(MENAFN- UkrinForm) According to an Ukrinform correspondent, German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz made this statement at the start of the expanded meeting at the White House, which included the Presidents of the United States and Ukraine as well as other European leaders.

“The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones now. The path is open. You (U.S. President Donald Trump – ed.) opened it last Friday. But now the way is open for complicated negotiations. And to be honest, we all would like to see a ceasefire, the latest from the next meeting on,” he stated.

The head of German government said it is necessary to“work on that, and let's try to put pressure on Russia, because the credibility of these efforts we are undertaking today are depending on at least a ceasefire from the beginning of the serious negotiations from next step on.”

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“So I would like to emphasize this aspect and would like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting wherever it takes place,” Merz stressed.

As reported by Ukrinform, an expanded meeting begun at the White House, bringing together the presidents of the United States and Ukraine along with top European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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