Merz: Ukraine's capitulation is ruled out, Russia's influence is the main threat to Germany; Medvedev responds with sarcasm
Place: BerlinRegion: Ukraine-wide and the front lineautomatic summary
Where the versions diverge
Russian sources relay only Merz's words about Russian influence on German society and pair them with Medvedev's ironic response and Weidel's criticism; they do not mention the main point of the speech — that Ukraine's capitulation is ruled out and would mean the capitulation of all its allies. Ukrainian and independent outlets headline that point and give the remarks on Russian influence as the second part of the speech.
What Russia reports
automatic summary TASS in English relays German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's words at the Berlin Global Dialogue forum: his main concern is not the economy, the EU, the US or China, but Russia's influence on German society; the agency quotes AfD co-chair Alice Weidel, who called the chancellor's disregard for the country's real problems a true danger. RIA Novosti and TASS report that Dmitry Medvedev replied sarcastically on X: "Excellent chancellor! How lucky you Germans are." Russian agencies in the selection do not quote Merz's words that Ukraine's capitulation is unacceptable. Later RIA Novosti, under the headline "Merz put in his place", quoted AfD deputy group leader Markus Frohnmaier: Germans simply do not want escalation with Russia.
“My main concern is not our economy, or the EU, or the US, or China.”
“Отличный канцлер! Как вам, немцам, повезло”
“Зампред Совбеза РФ отметил, что немцам "очень повезло" с канцлером”
“Господин Мерц, а не приходило ли вам в голову, что немцы просто не хотят эскалации в отношениях с Россией и не готовы жертвовать всем ради Украины?”
- Merz names Russia’s influence on Germans his main concern — TASS (tass.com), 21 October, 18:15
- Медведев саркастично ответил на слова Мерца о России — RIA Novosti, 21 October, 22:06
- Медведев сыронизировал над опасениями Мерца из-за влияния России — TASS (tass.ru, RSS), 21 October, 20:46
- Мерца поставили на место после жесткого заявления о России — RIA Novosti, 22 October, 04:19
What Ukraine reports
automatic summary Ukrainska Pravda, citing DW and Yevropeiska Pravda, headlines Merz's words that Ukraine's capitulation would mean the capitulation of all its allies: supporting Ukraine is not meant to prolong the war, and Germany and Europe are ready for negotiations at any moment. It also quotes his words on Russian disinformation and hybrid attacks as the main threat to Germany's security.
“Ми надаємо підтримку Україні не для того, щоб затягувати цю війну.”
“Адже це означало б капітуляцію нас усіх”
- Мерц: Капітуляція України означала б капітуляцію всіх союзників — Ukrainska Pravda, 21 October, 13:16
What independent sources report
automatic summary DW, citing Reuters, relays both parts of the speech: Ukraine's capitulation is ruled out because it would mean the capitulation of all of Kyiv's allies, and the chancellor's greatest concern is Russia's influence on German society — sabotage, hybrid attacks on communication systems and attempts to destabilise the country, the scale of which, he said, is underestimated.
“Ведь это означало бы капитуляцию всех нас”
“Мое самое большое беспокойство сейчас вызывает не наша экономика, не США и не Китай, а влияние России на наше общество”
- Мерц: Капитуляция Украины стала бы капитуляцией всех союзников — DW (RU), 21 October, 20:26
Confirmation
Confirmation: confirmed by independent sources
The event is reported by international or exile independent outlets and no contradictions in the facts between the groups were detected. This does not mean the independent outlets verified every detail.
Automatic summary, may contain errors. Short summaries are written by a language model with no human review; titles, summaries and the “Where the versions diverge” block in English are an automatic translation of the Russian originals. Quotes are verbatim (checked by code), in their original language, with a link. The “Where the versions diverge” block only records differences in wording and figures and does not say who is right. Publication times are shown in Europe/Berlin time. Report an error in this card