After a phone call with Zelensky, the German chancellor said russia must accept a halt to strikes on energy infrastructure and spoke out against the US diesel deal with moscow.
After a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, 12 October, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on russia to accept a ceasefire covering energy infrastructure. Writing on X, he said russia must agree to such a truce, which he described as an important step toward lasting peace in Ukraine. The NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine is following the debate closely, because it will decide whether people have heat and light this winter.
According to the German government's readout, both leaders agreed that russia must now accept a ceasefire covering all energy infrastructure. Zelensky said russian forces had struck six Ukrainian energy facilities in a single day, including a gas production site, and that this is exactly how russians behave when pressure eases, so it is very important that Europe continue to act on principle. He thanked Berlin for its military assistance and its support for Ukraine's energy sector ahead of winter. Merz reaffirmed Germany's solidarity, said Berlin is working to organize another meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, and said the leaders agreed to convene national security advisers in the E3–Ukraine format.
According to Ukrinform, citing n-tv, Merz opposed the US agreement with russia on diesel supplies and said Europe should raise pressure on moscow rather than ease it. In his view russia will negotiate seriously only under pressure, and attacks on civilian energy infrastructure continued even after Donald Trump announced a halt to energy strikes. Responding to Trump's remarks that Ukraine needs a new president, the chancellor said Zelensky can count on German support. Kyiv, for its part, offers to suspend long-range strikes on russian refineries and export facilities if moscow stops attacking Ukraine's power system; neither Kyiv nor moscow has publicly confirmed agreeing to the truce Trump announced on 11 October.
Germany and other partners see energy as one of the key stakes of the coming months: the daily lives of millions of families depend on the condition of the grid. Volunteers Support Ukraine keeps helping people affected by the war within the aid we are able to provide.
