Merz, Macron and Starmer arrive in Kyiv
Updated on May 10, 2025 - 8:00 a.m. Reading time: 2 min.
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in Kyiv. He is accompanied by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
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With this visit, Merz is already making history: It is the first joint visit of the heads of state and government of these four countries to Ukraine and the first trip there by Friedrich Merz as the newly elected Federal Chancellor.
Merz had prepared for the visit on Wednesday during his first telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump . The Chancellor informed the American president about the joint statement, and he responded favorably, according to sources close to Merz.
The four heads of state and government declared in a joint statement: "We, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, will stand together in Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Russia's ongoing barbaric and illegal invasion."
The aim of the initiative is to create the conditions for a political solution to the conflict. During the visit, the heads of state and government will also commemorate the victims of the Russian war of aggression on the Maidan in Kyiv. Later, they will participate in a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Support Group together with President Volodymyr Zelensky. The focus is on building an international coalition to strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces in the long term.
The Ukraine visit by Merz, Macron, Starmer, and Tusk is the first in this formation. It is reminiscent of a similar trip by Merz's predecessor , Olaf Scholz (SPD), in June 2022. Scholz traveled to Kyiv with Macron and then-Italian Prime Minister Draghi. There, the three of them jointly endorsed Ukraine's EU accession candidacy for the first time, thus paving the way for it. The images of the three from a meeting room on the special train have a permanent place in the history of the Ukraine war.
In June 2022, just a few months after the Russian invasion, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also traveled to Kyiv together with Macron and then-Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Back then, too, it was a sign of solidarity.
t-online
