Merkel: I did everything I could to prevent conflict in Ukraine

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2005-2021) said she used every means at her disposal to try to prevent conflict in Ukraine.

Commenting on the Russian special operation in Ukraine on Saturday, Merkel said in an interview with Die Zeit newspaper, “I used all the capabilities available to me to prevent the situation from developing into what it is now”.

The former Chancellor stressed that: “Its failure doesn’t mean that making an attempt was a mistake,” considering that the diplomatic effort is necessary.

At the same time, Merkel once again defended her Russia policy, as she described efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine after the events in Crimea in 2014 within the framework of the so-called Minsk process as correct.

“I support diplomatic attempts,” said the former head of the German government, and admitted: “What greatly upset me is the presence of quite a few who did not care about this”.

For example, in the European Council, Germany and France, unlike other countries, have made efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The former German chancellor said that she spoke a lot with the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and the current Ukrainian president Zelensky.

“President Zelensky was very critical of the Minsk agreements, and he has already said this during his election campaign and has indicated that he considers it impractical,” according to Ukrainian political leaders, this agreement is very difficult to implement politically.

Last December, during an interview with Die Zeit, Merkel acknowledged that the conclusion of the Minsk agreements was an attempt to give Ukraine time to become stronger.

According to her, it was clear to everyone that the conflict had frozen and the problem had not been resolved, and the Minsk agreement gave Ukraine invaluable time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin later said that Merkel’s words about the Minsk agreements were unexpected and disappointing for him.