Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out her participation in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Merkel said in a statement to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that “the issue has not been raised”.
She added that the conflict “one day will end in negotiations. Wars end at the negotiating table.”
Merkel defended her policy towards Russia and Ukraine, saying: “The talk was about trying to prevent such a war. Just because it didn’t work doesn’t mean the attempt was wrong.”
Merkel expressed her belief that the possible accession of Georgia and Ukraine, which was discussed at the NATO summit in 2008, would be regarded as a “mistake”.
Merkel reaffirmed her position on the Minsk agreements on a settlement in Ukraine. She said that “this is not a way to buy time for Ukraine. Ukraine used this period to become stronger, and today it is obvious.”
Merkel considered that the reaction of the West to the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014 was “not strong enough and fast enough.”
Earlier, Merkel said in an interview with the German newspaper Zeit that the Minsk agreements were “an attempt to save time for Ukraine” in 2014 and questioned NATO’s ability to provide the same amount of assistance to Ukraine at that time.
Source: News