German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the 2025 budget debate of the lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, 17 September 2025;
Credit: Reuters/Liesa Johannssen
BERLIN (Reuters) - Russia's violation of Polish and Romanian airspace is part of a long-running trend of boundary-testing and sabotage by President Vladimir Putin, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday 17 September 2025.
"Russia wants to insidiously destabilise our free societies," Merz told the Bundestag lower house of parliament, saying that a peace deal in the Ukraine war cannot come at the expense of Kyiv's political sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"A dictated peace, a peace without freedom, would encourage Putin to seek his next target," added Merz.
