Merkel blames Baltics and Poland for Ukraine events

“Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed Poland and the Baltics for events in Ukraine.

 

She made the remarks in an interview with Hungarian newspaper Partizan, which was quoted by the Daily Mail.

 

She blamed Poland and the Baltics for the break in diplomatic relations between Russia and the EU, which she said led to the conflict just months later.

 

Merkel said Poland’s refusal to support the Minsk agreements – two key international agreements between Russia and the EU – had emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to fight for Ukraine in 2022.

 

The former German chancellor said the first Minsk agreement brought peace between 2015 and 2021 and gave Ukraine time to gather strength and become a different country.

 

Merkel said it was only in 2021 that she felt Putin no longer took the Minsk agreement seriously.

 

“That’s why I wanted a new format where we could talk directly to Putin as the European Union,” she told Partizan.

 

“Some people were against it. It was primarily the Baltic states, but Poland was also against it,” Merkel added.

 

According to her, the four nations were afraid that they would not have a unified policy towards Russia.

 

“In any case, it didn’t happen. Then I left office, and then the events in Ukraine began,” she said.

 

Merkel served as German chancellor from November 2005 to December 2021.”