image source, Environmental Protection Agency
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel says she has “nothing to apologize for”.
When asked about her policy toward Russia when she was a chancellor, which has recently been criticized in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the seasoned politician defended her work.
in an interview, Merkel said she has no regrets His government’s response to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014.
He also defended his opposition while in office to Ukraine’s joining NATO.
Merkel accused of leaving Germany weak before Seeking to establish trade relations with Russia.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was built to carry Russian natural gas directly to Germany while she worked as a consultant and was only suspended by her successor Olaf Schultz before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Under pressure to impose tough new sanctions on the invasion, Germany is working to reduce its dependence on Russian energy without hurting its economy.
But Merkel said so Europe and Russia be Neighbors who don’t they can Ignores“We have to find a way to coexist despite all our differences,” he told ARD radio station.
image source, GT
Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin meeting in Moscow in 2020.
The invasion of Ukraine was not only “unacceptable”, it was also unacceptable Big Russian mistakeGerman journalist and writer Alexander Osang.
“If we start going back through the centuries and discussing which part of the land should belong to whom, then we will only have war,” he said. “This is not an option at all.”
“Nothing to apologize for”
In the interview, the most significant since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Merkel defended the sanctions her government imposed on Russia in response to the annexation of Crimea.
As well as Germany’s role in the Minsk peace process, which was aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014-2015.
He said the peace process gave Ukraine time to develop as a state and strengthen its army.
“I shouldn’t blame myself for not trying hard enough,” Merkel said. “I don’t see that I should say ‘this was a mistake’ and that’s why I have nothing to apologize for“.
image source, Environmental Protection Agency
Merkel was a guest of journalist Alexander Osang.
As a consultant too I know opposing aEnter From Ukraine to NATO in 2008.
He said this was due to his desire to avoid escalation with Russia and because Ukraine itself was not ready to take the step.
“This was not the Ukraine we know today,” he said. The country was not stable, it was full of corruption.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskywhose country remains outside NATO despite the extensive Western defense aid it has received since the Russian invasion, Description of Germany’s decision From 2008 as a ‘miscalculation’“.
Merkel, who left office six months ago, said on Tuesday she had “deeply respected Zelensky” and admired Ukrainians’ “courage and passion” to fight for their country.
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