The German government does not expect a "decisive breakthrough" towards a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine during the Munich Security Conference scheduled for later this week, a government spokesman said today.
"Regarding Munich and the Security Conference, I have not received any concrete indications that a decisive breakthrough could be in sight," government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday in Munich, where US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are also expected.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also tempered expectations regarding diplomatic meetings on Ukraine.
"We can't see the end of the tunnel yet," Pistorius said.
Since Donald Trump's return to power in the US, talk has been spreading about possible peace talks to end the war that Russia has been waging in Ukraine for almost three years.
The US president said he wanted to quickly end the conflict, but did not explain how.
Ukraine fears it will be forced to accept an unfavorable deal.
A German government spokesman reiterated Germany's position that "nothing should be decided without the Ukrainians, and they themselves should decide how to begin negotiations with the Russian side."
"The easiest way to stop the war would be for the Russian president to withdraw his forces and stop a conflict that has already left hundreds of thousands dead and wounded, and caused enormous destruction and suffering," Hebestreit added.
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