Former Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed Poland and the Baltic States for indirectly contributing to Russia’s attack on Ukraine in an interview with Hungarian left-leaning, critical-of-the-government podcast Partizán.
Merkel stated in the interview that the German opposition in 2021 blocked an EU dialogue with Putin, which she had hoped would prevent escalation. Merkel also cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor, saying lack of face-to-face meetings hindered compromise.
Importantly, she also noted in the podcast “In June 2021, I felt that Putin was no longer taking the Minsk Agreement seriously, and that’s why I wanted a new format, where we would speak directly with Putin as the European Union.” However, this plan failed:
Some did not support it. These were primarily the Baltic States, but Poland was also against it.
These countries were “afraid” “that we would not have a common policy towards Russia,” the former Chancellor claimed.
She defended her Russia policy, arguing the Minsk Agreement had stabilized Ukraine.
Her remarks have been strongly rejected by Polish leaders, who denied any blame, noting Russia’s prior aggression against Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
