BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Saturday he expected that Russia would only stop its war against Ukraine once it could no longer wage it for economic and military reasons, given that diplomatic efforts in recent weeks had failed.
"All efforts of the past weeks have been answered with an even more aggressive approach by this regime in Moscow against the population in Ukraine," Merz said at a regional event of his conservatives in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
"This will also not stop until we ensure together that Russia, at least for economic reasons, and perhaps also for military reasons … can no longer continue this war."
Earlier on Saturday, the chief of Russia's general staff, General Valery Gerasimov, said his troops were waging a non-stop offensive along almost the entire front line in Ukraine and that they had the "strategic initiative".
Russia has also stepped up airstrikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front lines this summer.
Efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, now in its fourth year, have so far failed, and Kyiv and its European allies including Germany are calling for tougher economic sanctions on Moscow.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Sarah MarshEditing by Gareth Jones)
