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Merkel: Putin's War Unjustifiable, Yet Russia Talks Must Resume
(MENAFN) Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Europe needs to find a way back to the negotiating table with Russia, even as she leveled sharp criticism at President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
"There is absolutely no justification for Putin's idea of restoring a defunct empire," Merkel said in an interview recorded last week with a Romanian broadcaster, which aired as she visited Bucharest to promote her memoirs.
"The step he took in February 2022, when he attacked Ukraine, will forever be linked to his name," she said. "He destroyed the order that had been restored with great effort after World War II."
She went further, adding: "And Russia remains a country with which we must try to reopen a dialogue. But as for the fact that he violated the principles of law: that fact cannot be overlooked. That is Putin's legacy—or his terrible testament."
The center-right leader governed Germany from 2005 to 2021 — the longest run of any postwar chancellor save for Helmut Kohl.
During her sixteen years in power, Merkel built a reputation for pairing blunt public criticism of Moscow with a steady insistence that engagement with the Kremlin was essential. She emerged as the West's go-to contact for Russian leadership, frequently working the phones directly with Moscow, and consistently argued at the time that the conflict in eastern Ukraine could only be resolved through political negotiation rather than force.
"There is absolutely no justification for Putin's idea of restoring a defunct empire," Merkel said in an interview recorded last week with a Romanian broadcaster, which aired as she visited Bucharest to promote her memoirs.
"The step he took in February 2022, when he attacked Ukraine, will forever be linked to his name," she said. "He destroyed the order that had been restored with great effort after World War II."
She went further, adding: "And Russia remains a country with which we must try to reopen a dialogue. But as for the fact that he violated the principles of law: that fact cannot be overlooked. That is Putin's legacy—or his terrible testament."
The center-right leader governed Germany from 2005 to 2021 — the longest run of any postwar chancellor save for Helmut Kohl.
During her sixteen years in power, Merkel built a reputation for pairing blunt public criticism of Moscow with a steady insistence that engagement with the Kremlin was essential. She emerged as the West's go-to contact for Russian leadership, frequently working the phones directly with Moscow, and consistently argued at the time that the conflict in eastern Ukraine could only be resolved through political negotiation rather than force.
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