Russia prefers escalation to negotiation: Germany’s Merz

Russia’s heavy bombardments of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv showed Moscow was “banking on escalation rather than negotiation,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday on the social network X.

“Kyiv and its partners are ready for negotiations aimed at a just peace. Russia, for its part, is continuing the war,” Merz added, after Russian attacks left at least 10 dead and around 40 wounded in Kyiv.