by Oui
Sun Dec 25th, 2022 at 10:50:05 AM EST
"Hatten Sie gedacht, ich komme mit Pferdeschwanz?" -- Die Zeit
Angela Merkel über ihren neuen Lebensabschnitt, mögliche Fehler ihrer Russlandpolitik, ihre Rolle in der Flüchtlingskrise und die Frage, ob mit deutschen Kanzlern ungnädig umgegangen wird.
When I first learned of the content, I could not believe to have been deceived by the Germans and Angela Merkel ... I had much trust in Merkel's leadership. If her statement about the intent of the Minsk Agreement is her attempt to revise history for her biography, she handed the Kremlin an argument for starting the military operation and propaganda never to sign any peace or security treaty with the West or NATO allies again.
Frontpaged with minor edit - Frank Schnittger
Is former Chancellor Merkel reacting to accusations in Der Spiegel?
Article Zeit-Online is behind a paywall ...
Max Blumenthal @MaxBlumenthal
Merkel reveals the Minsk Agreement was a stalling tactic that allowed the West to militarize Ukraine as an anti-Russian proxy and fortify it for an inevitable war. I'm struggling to find any coverage or analysis of this remarkable confession in English language mainstream media.
Merkel admits failures in Russia policy -- Sächsische Zeitung
Berlin/Hamburg. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has acknowledged shortcomings in the policy of deterrence towards Russia. "We should have reacted more quickly to Russia's aggressiveness," Merkel told the weekly Die Zeit, referring to the occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. At that time, the NATO countries agreed to spend two percent of their gross domestic product on defense . "Germany has not reached the two percent target despite the increase," regretted Merkel. "And I didn't give a passionate speech about it every day either."
In retrospect, the then Chancellor did not consider the approval for the construction of the German-Russian natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 to be a mistake. A ban on the project would have "dangerously worsened the climate with Russia," Merkel said. In addition, the dependency on Russian gas is not solely a result of the joint pipeline project. It was primarily due to the fact that less gas had been delivered from Norway, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
Merkel considers the commitment of the citizens for the functioning of democracy to be essential. The democratic system must "be lived by each individual, otherwise it can quickly collapse," said Merkel of Die Zeit. She has no distrust of her own people, but "a general distrust of us humans because people are capable of the incomprehensible. Germany took this to extremes in a terrible way under National Socialism," Merkel said in the interview.
Interview picked up by Kremlin news media ...
Merkel's remarks on Minsk Accords cast events in Ukraine in new light -- Serbian President | TASS |
We all witnessed the historically important statement by Angela Merkel, I am surprised, Aleksandar Vucic said
BELGRADE, December 11. TASS. Ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel's statement on the Minsk Agreements is historic and changes the attitude to what has been happening in Ukraine since 2014, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in his address to the nation on Saturday.
"We all witnessed the historically important statement by Angela Merkel, I am surprised. <...> For me, this idea is practically unfathomable but it is confirmed by what [former Ukrainian President] Pyotr Poroshenko said that they'd never intended to implement the Minsk Accords, this casts the situation in an absolutely new light. This does not change the fact who attacked whom but it does change the approach to what has been going on [in Ukraine] since 2014," the Serbian leader said adding that this seriously affects Serbia's stance on Kosovo.
"This tells you about Serbia's position and [Western] evil intentions. This statement by Merkel cardinally changes the situation in all senses, above all, in the political one, and for me it is a clear signal whom not to trust," Vucic stressed.
The truth of war, according to Merkel | Corriere.it |
To politically explain the genesis of the war in Ukraine, the commonly shared narrative of attacked and aggressor, which gives an ethical understanding of the conflict, is not enough. To help us in the analysis an exceptional witness: the former German chancellor Angela Merkel.
The commonly shared narrative of the assaulted and the aggressor, the victim and the perpetrator, serves one purpose ethical understanding of the war in Ukraine, but not to politically explain the genesis of the conflict, which could have been at least contained. For future reference, an exceptional witness lends us a hand, Angela Merkel, however intellectually disinterested, having left the political scene and dedicated to writing her own memoirs. The former chancellor is not about to pass for Putin's hostage or worse for a naive visionary who had not perceived the danger, according to an ungenerous narration in the German political world which thus clears its conscience for mistakes of the past, however shared by grand coalition governments. But you don't shy away from a self-criticism that the Kremlin media immediately used for internal use.
Angela Merkel gives a reading of the 2014 Minsk agreements which were supposed to start a peace process and which instead only served to prepare for war, giving Ukraine time to arm and defend itself. The Minsk agreements served to give Ukraine time. [...] Time it used to get stronger, as we can see today. The Ukraine of 2014-2015 was not the Ukraine of today. As we saw in early 2015 during the fighting around Debaltsevo [una citt del Donbass, Oblast' di Donetsk], Putin could easily have won. And I very much doubt that NATO at the time would have been able to help Ukraine like it does today... It was obvious to all of us that the conflict would be frozen, that the problem was not solved, but this only gave precious time to Ukraine. a passage from the interview with the weekly Zeit.
The Russian press has given an interpretation of it for their own use: Merkel: yes, we deceived Putin about the Minsk agreements to buy time. Putin also expressed disappointment, as reported by Gazeta.ru: I am disappointed. Frankly, I didn't expect to hear such things from the ex-chancellor. I always thought the German leadership was sincere with us. How can Moscow and Western countries reach an agreement now? What guarantees will there be? wonder some media, while emphasizing that the head of the Kremlin has reiterated his belief that an agreement with Western countries is inevitable and that Russia is ready to face it.
Real intention behind Minsk agreements further destroys credibility of the West | Global Times |
From pushing for the Minsk agreements to inciting the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the West is attempting to exhaust and contain a country which they deem as a rival through protraction efforts, be they explicit or inexplicit.
It has never really genuinely regarded Russia as a dialogue partner. In an interview with the German newspaper Die Zeit last week, former German chancellor Angela Merkel revealed the West's real intention behind its negotiation with Russia and Ukraine to promote a ceasefire in 2014. She admitted the Minsk agreements were an "attempt to give Ukraine time" and that Kiev had used it "to become stronger."
In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Merkel's remarks were "completely unexpected and disappointing."As the US media New York Post pointed out, Putin felt betrayed by the West following the Minsk agreements. "It has turned out that no one was going to implement the agreements," the Russian leader pointed out.
The Minsk agreements intended to manage the Ukraine crisis and avoid escalating the conflict. Merkel actually confessed something Western politicians do not want to admit about the Minsk agreements: They were just a stopgap to buy time for Ukraine and the West, and Western countries have never put real effort into resolving the differences with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
[Update-1]
Western censorship of Merkel’s explosive interview will never succeed …. from Asian source Amit Sengupta:
Link YouTube video
14K likes and >3,333 comments
END OF UPDATE
EU won't lift sanctions on Russia until Minsk conditions met - Merkel | Reuters - March 19, 2015 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe will not lift sanctions on Russia imposed over the Ukraine crisis until the conditions of the Minsk ceasefire deal have been met, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday before EU leaders discuss the issue at a summit in Brussels.
“We cannot and will not lift the sanctions that expire in July or September until the demands of the Minsk agreement have been fulfilled. That would be wrong,” she told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
She also said that the goal of the EU’s eastern partnership is to improve the standard of living for people there, it is not about EU or NATO membership for those countries.
Merkel says all must be done to implement Minsk peace deal | Reuters - Aug. 24, 2015 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine was not being respected and everything must be done to fully implement the broader peace deal reached in Minsk in February.
"The ceasefire agreement hasn't been fully implemented and that's meant that there have been more and more victims," Merkel said in a news conference in Berlin with French President Francois Hollande and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko.
"The first and foremost condition is that everything is done to make the ceasefire agreement a reality. The task at hand means that what we agreed in Minsk has to be respected."
Merkel added: "We are here to implement the Minsk deal, not to call it into question."
Unfortunately, the original Die Zeit interview is blocked for third countries.
"There will be no more talks": the destructive meaning of Merkel's revelations about the Minsk agreements has reached Europe
Austrian politician criticizes Merkel's words on Minsk agreements
Former Vice Chancellor of Austria Heinz-Christian Strache frightened by the former chancellor Germany Angela Merkel. So he said, speaking at a round table on the topic of Ukrainian events in Vienna: "It is frightening with what frankness Frau Merkel speaks about this ... Thus, we destroy any basis for trust." Frau ex-Chancellor's frankness, which horrified Strache, is on everyone's lips: in a recent interview, she admitted that the Minsk agreements were not serious, but just a trick for Russia to give Ukraine time prepare the conflict.
According to her, it was clear to everyone that the conflict remained frozen and the problem had not been resolved, but this is what gave Ukraine invaluable time. Merkel expressed doubts that NATO member countries could provide support to Kiev at the time to the extent that they do now.
During the signing of the agreement in the city of Minsk, Belarus, the Ukrainian authorities promised to amend their Constitution to grant autonomy to Lugansk and Donetsk, as well as to hold local elections in both regions.
President Vladimir Putin claimed that the Minsk agreements were killed by the current Kiev authorities, long before the recognition of Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics, so Merkel's statements only justify the start of the special military operation.
A PR show with no substance to meet in Normandy Four format in January 2022?
Normandy Four and Minsk Agreements: Betting Sunday
Diaries on #poroshenko @EuroTrib
Prolonging the charade …
Charles Michel @eucopresident
The full implementation of the Minsk Agreements is the only way forward. Until full implementation is a reality, EU sanctions against Russia will remain in place.
Together w/ @ZelenskyyUa at contact line in Luhansk oblast, encourage full opening of all entry/exit crossing points.
Lindsey Graham On US Benefits War In Ukraine
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