ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2022) Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out her participation in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Asked by Italian weekly Sette whether her role in resolving this crisis is completely out of the question, Merkel said that "the question is not being posed." She also admitted that she does not know exactly how the conflict in Ukraine could end.
"One day it will end with negotiations. Wars end at the negotiating table," the ex-chancellor said.
"There is a difference between a forced peace, which I, like many others, do not want, and an open and friendly conversation," she said.
In an interview with Sette magazine, which is a supplement to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, Merkel stressed that, as German chancellor, she made decisions regarding Russia and Ukraine, being guided by a logic that still seems reasonable to her.
"It was about trying to prevent a war like the current one. The fact that it didn't work doesn't mean the attempt was wrong," she said.
Merkel said the possible accession of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO, which was discussed in 2008, in her opinion, would be a mistake.
The ex-chancellor reaffirmed her assessment of the Minsk agreements, which she expressed in an interview with the German newspaper Die Zeit in early December.
"The Minsk agreements of 2014 were an attempt to give time to Ukraine. Ukraine used this period to become stronger, as it is seen today," Merkel said.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) for protection from Ukrainian troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the ultimate goal of the operation is to liberate Donbas and create conditions that guarantee Russia's security. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
