Mertz: Europe does not have enough influence to make Putin stop the war

European leaders fail to put enough pressure on Russian dictator Vladimir Putinto stop the war against Ukraine. This was stated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in an interview for his conservative party's YouTube channel, transmits Bloomberg.

The publication notes that Merz expressed irritation that Europe lacks influence over Russia amid the US's delay in security guarantees and sanctions.

"We are dependent on American aid," Mertz said.

At the same time, he said, countries such as China, India, and Brazil are entering into new partnerships with Russia.

According to an official familiar with the talks, European leaders agreed that tougher sanctions against Russia are key to forcing Moscow to end the war and start negotiating a peace deal.

"They (the leaders of the "coalition of the willing" – ed.) made it clear to the President of the United States To Donald Trumpthey are now waiting for a response from the United States to jointly strengthen sanctions against Russia," the official said.

• on September 4, the "coalition of the willing" met. French President Macron called the a list of security guarantees for Ukraine, agreed upon by the partners. In particular, 26 partner countries agreed to deploy military contingents to Ukraine.
• In addition, Macron said that if Russia continues to refuse to agree to a ceasefire, europe and the US will impose sanctions.
• The head of the European Commission said that at the meeting of the "coalition of the willing" worked on three main areas on security guarantees for Ukraine.