Merkel: “There was the problem Greece” – The answer to the criticism that he allowed the war in Ukraine

THE Angela Merkel placed for him war in Ukraine and responded to the criticism that in the past he did nothing to prevent future developments, stressing that then there were other problems beyond Kiev-Moscow relations.

In particular, the former German chancellor spoke to Spiegel and as reported by the Reuters agency, Merkel stated that she had aimed at convening European talks with Vladimir Putin in the year before his invasion of Ukrainebut she realized that she would ultimately have no chance of influencing the Russian president as she was at the end of her term.

So she said she and French President Emmanuel Macron planned to hold an independent form of conversation with Putin at the European Council in 2021, Merkel’s last summer in office. “But I no longer had the strength to impose myself because, after all, everyone knew that in the fall I would be leaving,” he added later.

He also emphasized that “when people refer to 2013 and 2014 as if nothing happened except the Minsk agreement (Russia-Ukraine peace agreement on the conflict with separatists in eastern Ukraine) and they ask how I was able to leave Ukraine, the answer for me is very easy.”

“There were also the federal elections and the coalition negotiations, there was always Greece, I broke my pelvis. Right now, for example, everyone is talking about the Russia war, but no one is talking about the EU-Turkey deal. At some point someone will ask “how could you forget that?”. I think it’s important to ask how world history works. According to what laws. Otherwise we always make the same mistakes,” he said among other things.

Still, responding to criticism leveled at it, it emphasizes that after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, “we tried everything to prevent further Russian attacks and coordinated our sanctions in detail.” Today, he adds, “we are faced with a world that is once again full of complications. History doesn’t repeat itself, but I fear patterns do. The horror disappears along with the eyewitnesses. But the spirit of reconciliation is also disappearing.”