Minsk Agreements: 'We Were Fooled by the West' | 2 Jan. 2023 |

Earlier last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was hoping for peace agreements back when it signed the Minsk agreements in 2014, but it was fooled.

"We all endured, endured, endured and hoped for some kind of peace agreement, but now it turns out that we were simply fooled," Putin told reporters.

"After the revelations of [ex-German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, [ex-Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko, and other politicians about the true goals of the Minsk agreements, it became obvious to everyone that Russia was not the source of the conflict in Ukraine," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said a day before Putin's statement. 

Moreover, Merkel, who was in office from 2005 to 2021, said earlier that month that the Minsk accords were signed to "give Ukraine time" to strengthen itself.

"The 2014 Minsk agreement was an attempt to give time to Ukraine. It also used this time to become stronger as can be seen today. The Ukraine of 2014-2015 is not modern Ukraine," Merkel said.

• Merkel's Explosive Interview Die Zeit
• European Betrayal of Minsk Agreements