Against the backdrop of talks about Ukraine’s future and the devastating effects of power and heating outages, SPD politicians are weighing the possibility that Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) could engage in direct talks with Russia.
Adis Ahmetovic, the SPD’s foreign‑policy spokesman in the Bundestag, told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Wednesday that the current discussions aimed at ending the Ukraine war have made little progress and that Europeans are effectively absent from the negotiating table. “With the way things are going now, they can’t keep going in this manner” he said. He called for new approaches, including deciding “on which level and by whom the diplomatic contact with Russia should be sought”. Ahmetovic added that Merz must show more courage overall and that the German government should work with European states and alliance partners to devise a strategy that restores Germany’s seat at the negotiating table.
He criticized the heavy reliance on US negotiators, especially during a phase when the Biden administration seems to dismiss Europe’s concerns as casually as it did with Greenland. “I am deeply skeptical that we are leaving the direction of negotiations to two US real‑estate moguls, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner” he said.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had suggested that Europe might need to initiate talks directly with Vladimir Putin, as previous approaches were no longer effective. Meloni said a few weeks ago in Rome that “now is the moment when Europe should speak with Russia”.
Long‑time SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich also supports the idea of direct conversations. “After the experiences of the last months, we should doubt that US negotiators are keeping European interests in mind” he said. He noted that some humiliations inflicted by President Trump and his administration might have been better endured if Europe had focused earlier on its own independence.
Merz has never had a phone call with the Russian president. When asked whether he had made attempts that were rebuffed by the Kremlin, the federal press office replied that the government does not comment on confidential international discussions. Consequently, it did not confirm or deny the claim. The spokesperson for the Deputy Chancellor who made a statement in December was also silent on whether the chancellor had any intention of such a call.