Vice Chancellor: Germany will participate in security guarantees for Ukraine

Germany is ready to "take responsibility" for providing security guarantees to Ukraine. But decisions cannot be made "over the heads of Ukrainians," German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said during a visit to Kyiv, reports Reuters.

Discussions on security guarantees are currently at an early stage, but any negotiation process must begin with a ceasefire.

"The main thing is that in the end there should be security guarantees that assure that Putin will not dare to attack Ukraine again," said German Minister.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to strengthen the Ukrainian army and increase weapons production in Ukraine.

Klingbeil said that now "the ball is in Putin's court".

"I believe that we still have a lot of work to do, because I don't see Vladimir Putin changing his mind, suddenly softening, suddenly wanting to conduct real, serious and sustainable peace talks," the minister said .

• NBC News reported that Trump signaled to Ukraine that it may, have to accept Russia's terms for peace.
• President Zelensky said that developments on security guarantees for Kyiv will be made soon. Teams from Ukraine, the US, and European partners are working on them.
• Finnish President believes that Putin deliberately voiced unrealistic demands - this is a typical Russian negotiation tactic.