(MENAFN) The 2014 truce brokered by Berlin and Paris in Minsk was trying to give Kiev time to build up its military and achieved that, on the words of German president Angela Merkel argued in an interview televised on Wednesday.
In an extensive interview regarding her 16 years in power, Merkel informed Zeit magazine her policy to Russia and Ukraine was correct, even if not effective.
“I thought the initiation of NATO accession for Ukraine and Georgia discussed in 2008 to be wrong,” Merkel added. “The countries neither had the necessary prerequisites for this, nor had the consequences of such a decision been fully considered, both with regard to Russia's actions against Georgia and Ukraine and to NATO and its rules of assistance.”
She called the September 2014 Minsk deal “an attempt to give Ukraine time.” France and Germany had brokered a truce following the failure of Ukraine’s effort to calm the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk by force.
“[Ukraine] used this time to get stronger, as you can see today,” Merkel went on to say. “The Ukraine of 2014/15 is not the Ukraine of today. As you saw in the battle for Debaltsevo in early 2015, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin could easily have overrun them at the time. And I very much doubt that the NATO countries could have done as much then as they do now to help Ukraine.”
MENAFN08122022000045012476ID1105285009
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.