Merkel Says She Used Everything to Try to Prevent Conflict in Ukraine

"I used everything at my disposal to try to prevent this situation," Merkel said, commenting on the war in Ukraine on Saturday in an interview with the German daily Die Zeit.

"The fact that it failed is not proof that it was wrong to try," she stressed. Diplomacy is a "necessity," as the ex-Chancellor noted, TASS reported.

However. Merkel repeatedly defended her policy towards Russia. She called the efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine after the events in Crimea in 2014 as part of the so-called Minsk agreements correct.

"I support these diplomatic efforts," the former head of the German government said, adding that she was "very worried" about Ukraine.

"To my great chagrin, there were quite a few who were not interested in this," Merkel admitted. According to her, in the European Council Germany and France, made efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The ex-Chancellor of Germany said that she talked a lot with the former President of Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko and the current President Vladimir Zelensky. "President Zelensky was very critical of the Minsk agreements. He already said this during his election campaign and noted that he considers it unfeasible," Merkel stated. She noted that, according to Ukrainian political leaders, this agreement is not popular in Ukraine, and it was very difficult to implement it politically.

In an interview with Die Zeit, published on December 7, 2022, Merkel stated that the 2014 Minsk agreements were an attempt to let Ukraine gain time.

She said, "It was clear to everyone" that the conflict had been frozen and the problem had not been resolved. Russian President Vladimir Putin later said that he found Merkel's statement completely unexpected and disappointing.