Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 6, 2026
1 min readLast updated: February 6, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe EU is open to talks with Russia to end the Ukraine war but will not engage in parallel negotiations, according to German Chancellor Merz.
BERLIN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that the European Union is always willing to hold talks with Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine, but will not "open any parallel channels of communication."
"We are, of course, always ready to hold talks with Russia," Merz told reporters in Abu Dhabi. "Currently, coordinated talks are taking place here in Abu Dhabi ... if we can contribute to making these talks even better, even more successful, then we will do so. But we will not open any parallel channels of communication."
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Linda Pasquini)
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