Germany's Merz wants European unity on Ukraine at Albania EPC summit

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday called for European unity to achieve peace in Ukraine as he attended his first international summit in Tirana.

Merz is in the Albanian capital for the sixth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), an organization of leaders from the European Union and other countries including the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Switzerland.

"I very much hope for European cohesion. I hope that we can also persuade the Americans to work alongside the Europeans to help find solutions that will bring this war to an end," Merz said ahead of the summit.

Merz is expected to meet Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of the talks.

Another meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Poland's Donald Tusk, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is anticipated after the leaders convened in Kiev last week.