(MENAFN) Lithuania’s top presidential adviser has sharply criticized former German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her recent remarks defending her administration’s Russia strategy, accusing her of attempting to excuse past policy failures toward Moscow.

Asta Skaisgiryte told a Lithuanian broadcaster that Merkel seemed to be rationalizing her government’s stance after claiming Poland and the Baltic nations were responsible for Russia’s diplomatic isolation.

In an interview with a Lithuanian radio station on Tuesday, Skaisgiryte reaffirmed that Lithuania and its neighbors were justified in rejecting the Minsk agreements — international accords designed to halt the Donbas conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces.

“Indeed, neither the Baltic states nor Poland supported the Minsk agreements. Merkel was completely right about that -- we did not support them,” she said.

Skaisgiryte went further, insisting that history has validated their opposition. “Of course, the former German chancellor, who was quite active in the process at the time, probably wants to justify the mistake she made.”

In a recent interview with a Hungarian YouTube channel, Merkel argued that Poland and the Baltic countries played a role in worsening Europe-Russia relations. She noted that by 2021, Moscow had dismissed the Minsk accords and sought a new dialogue framework with the EU through Russian President Vladimir Putin—an approach resisted by Poland and the Baltic states.

Skaisgiryte countered that the Minsk agreements “led truly nowhere” but to renewed conflict, reflecting intensifying regional criticism of Merkel’s Russia policy legacy.

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