The war between Russia and Ukraine had been in the air for some time and Angela Merkel tried to stop it, without success. The former German chancellor told SPIEGEL, deepening the theme of the conflict and her attempts at dialogue with Vladimir Putin: “I would have liked to have had a quieter time after my farewell, but the war was not a surprise. The 2014 Minsk Accords have now become an empty shell. So, in the summer of 2021, together with Emmanuel Macron, I tried to re-establish an autonomous dialogue between the EU Council and Putin. Some objected and I no longer had the strength to impose myself because everyone knew, ‘in the autumn it will pass’. When I flew to Moscow to meet Putin for the last time as chancellor, my feeling was very clear, from a power politics point of view, you don’t matter anymore. For Putin, only power counts.”
Merkel is asked about the possibility of running again in 2021 for a fifth term, in order to solve all these international problems: “I am convinced that no, there was a need for a new approach”. Finally, the former German politician admitted that in Transnistria and Moldova, Georgia, Syria and Libya “I could no longer advance even a millimeter. The stubbornness to go ahead with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was a result of the belief that it could be used as leverage to contain Putin.” It was not so.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
