Germany pointed to Merkel's missed opportunity to prevent the conflict in Ukraine

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel could have prevented the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine if she had remained in office. This was announced on November 12 by former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

"I am firmly convinced that we would not have ended up in this conflict," he said in an interview with the German public broadcasting corporation ARD. The interview was posted on the company's official YouTube channel.

According to the former minister, the Minsk agreements had a positive impact on the situation in Ukraine. Gabriel also stressed that Merkel's policy towards Russia could delay the outbreak of the conflict for eight years.

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Earlier, on October 10, the American newspaper Responsible Statecraft reported that Merkel's statements about the causes of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and attempts to develop a new format for the negotiation process indicate the hypocrisy of the West and its inaction. According to the publication, such statements by the former German chancellor provide an opportunity to review the situation in connection with the deterioration of Western relations with Russia, which peaked in February 2022.

Prior to that, on October 6, Merkel announced that in 2021 she had initiated a new format of dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Russia to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, but Poland and the Baltic countries opposed the idea, and this could be an indirect reason for the worsening of the crisis and the decision to hold its own. According to her, Poland and the Baltic States feared that the EU would not be able to develop a common policy for dialogue with the Russian Federation.

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