Friedrich Merz made his way to Kyiv on Dec 9th - showing up right after current german leader made a similar move just last week (which was Scholzs first trip there in about 2 yrs)
We want this terrible war to end as quickly as possible and peace to be restored in Europe
The german opposition chief‚ whos polling at 32 pct compared to current chancellors party at 16 pct brings a different take on military support: he thinks its time to send long-range missiles that Kyiv wants. This puts him at odds with current government policy
The timing of his trip isnt random - german snap-election is coming up in Feb 23rd and Ukraine support became a hot-button issue. Meanwhile the far-right AfD party (sitting at 19 pct in polls) wants to be friends with Moscow but other parties dont want to work with them
If our support for Ukraine is consistent then this war will end more quickly
Germany stays the second-biggest helper for Ukraine after US‚ sending both money and weapons. But theres more stuff to think about:
- Russian forces moving faster in eastern parts
- Possible Trump comeback making things unclear
- Questions about long-term support plans
The opposition leader thinks Putin will only talk if Ukraine stays strong - thats why he pushes for more help including those Taurus missiles that current chancellor wont send