German Chancellor Mertz warned Trump against any "surprises" regarding Ukraine during the upcoming talks with Putin in China on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
He emphasized that the United States must act as part of "Team Europe" and "Team Ukraine", and avoid a repeat of "Anchor". Merez also rejected Russian attempts to make the European security architecture the central issue of the negotiations, mentioning that such a system already exists in the form of NATO. The main question for future discussions is the framework in which Ukraine's security can be ensured once peace is achieved - but first that peace must be secured.