Ukraine's Zelenskyy meets Friedrich Merz, a candidate to become German chancellor

(9 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine - 09 December 2024
1. Wide of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shaking hands with Friedrich Merz, Germany's conservative opposition leader and a candidate for new chancellor
2. Zelenskyy greeting German delegation and parties take seats for talks
3. Mid of Merz listening to Zelenskyy 
4. Close of Zelenskyy speaking  
5. Wide of talks
6. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:
"We are very grateful to the French side for providing such a trilateral meeting. It is certainly very important to have constant communication, on an ongoing basis, with the American side. It is incredibly important for us to communicate and develop future steps together with the European position. Here, I completely agree with Mr. Merz. This is important for us, because Ukraine has security guarantees in the future. This is not only NATO, this is also economic security, geopolitical security. This is the European Union, here the role of European countries is very important." 
7. Close of Merz listening to Zelenskyy
8. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:
"When we talk about the frozen conflict. If between us, then we talked about it. I said that we, more than anyone in the world, want the end of the war. And certainly a diplomatic end to the war will save more lives, and we want that. But I emphasized to President Macron and President Trump that first of all, you will see that Putin does not want the end of this war, so he must be forced. You can only force it if Ukraine is strong. Ukraine is strong before any diplomacy - it is strong on the battlefield."
9. Close of German diplomat 
10. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:
"I am going to call President Biden in the near future, if he has the opportunity to talk to me and raise the issue of the invitation to NATO. Because he is now the acting president of the United States, a lot depends on his position. And there is no point in discussing with President Trump what does not depend on him today, while he is not yet in the White House."
11. Various of talks
12. Camera cutaway
13. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:
"I will tell you frankly, we can think and work on Emmanuel (Macron)'s position. Do you remember that he proposed that some part of the troops of this or that country could be present in some territories of Ukraine, which would guarantee us the security of Ukraine outside of NATO. But before that, we must have a clear understanding of when Ukraine will be in the EU and when Ukraine will be in NATO, understanding our future."
14. Various of talks
STORYLINE:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed Friedrich Merz, Germany's conservative opposition leader and likely next chancellor, for talks in Kyiv on Monday.

During the meeting, Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of Europe's position in communications with the United States.

He also commented on a recent meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. 

"We, more than anyone in the world, want the end of the war. A diplomatic end to the war will save more lives, and we want that," Zelenskyy said.

"But I emphasized to President Macron and President Trump that first of all you will see that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not want the end of this war, so he must be forced. You can only force it if Ukraine is strong. Ukraine is strong before any diplomacy - it is strong on the battlefield," Zelenskyy added.














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