Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently gave her first major interview since retiring. She said she had not complied with her instincts and had not intervened in the dangerous conflict that was brewing between Russia and the West.
Russian columnist Mikhail Rostovsky believes that Frau Merkel is now reaping the benefits of her indecision.
The journalist notes that Merkel has ruled Germany for 16 years and has become a figure stabilizing international relations. After her retirement, Olaf Scholz failed to reach her level and became a lighter figure. But what would have happened if the Frau Chancellor had not resigned. Merkel herself recently broke her silence and revealed some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of the world political scene.
In an interview with Phoenix, Merkel acknowledged why she has been passive in the last months of her term.
“One thing is still causing me difficulties … In June 2021, President Biden met with Putin, and then I thought with Emmanuel Macron that it was necessary for the European side to try to involve him in dialogue. Because I already felt a little that things with Minsk are bad. As a result, there has been no unity in the EU in this regard. And I thought, well, yes, everyone knows you’re leaving soon. A few years ago, I would have insisted on that, “the former chancellor admitted.
Merkel added that in late October 2021, US intelligence agencies knew that the conflict could escalate into an acute phase. She and her Western counterparts then discussed the issue.
Rostovsky notes that Merkel’s statements shed light on “the exact chronology of Europe’s slide” in confrontation with Russia. According to him, during a meeting in Geneva between Putin and Biden in June, the latter assured his Russian counterpart that he understood how unbearable the situation in Ukraine was for Russia and promised to resolve the crisis.
Then, in July, Putin offered the West to fulfill Biden’s promise in Geneva or Russia to move to Plan B. And back in October, during the G20 summit in Rome, Merkel received information on exactly what the Kremlin’s “Plan B” might look like. After that, however, she did nothing to stop the whole world from sliding towards the collapse of the world order in Europe.
The author of the article believes that until the autumn of 2021, Merkel remained in the post of Chancellor only formally and did not have full power in her hands, becoming a “lame duck”. Merkel herself says that things could have turned out differently if the fateful events of 2021 had happened a few years earlier.
Then she would insist on a substantial dialogue between Moscow and the West.
“If Biden had tried to keep his promise. If Merkel was no longer “retired with one foot.” Add a few more “ifs” to this list and we could live in a completely different world. We can, but we don’t live, “Rostovsky said.
Earlier, columnist Mikhail Rostovsky asked the question: how can Moscow respond to the threat from Kyiv to use MLRS against targets in the Russian Federation? According to him, the Kremlin is morally prepared to raise the stakes and escalate the conflict, but no one knows how this will be expressed.
And the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti writes that French President Emmanuel Macron made a statement that frightened Ukraine and its closest allies in Europe. According to the author of the article, Macron expressed what Kyiv, the Baltic states, Moldova and Georgia fear – “Russia is unacceptable to be humiliated in the international arena.”
Translation: BLIC
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