Merkel said that at the end of her term she could not influence Putin

Angela Merkel said that she couldn’t hold talks with Putin before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and influence him, as she had to leave her post soon.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing an interview of the former chancellor of Germany (2005 - 2021) to Der Spiegel magazine.

According to Merkel, in the summer of 2021, after talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and Putin, she wanted to "establish an independent European format of discussion" on Ukraine with the Kremlin leader together with French President Emmanuel Macron in the EU Council.

However, this initiative was not supported by all politicians.

"But I no longer had the leverage to insist, because, after all, everyone knew: she was leaving in the fall," the former chancellor said.

Recalling her farewell visit to Moscow in August 2021, Merkel admitted that she had a "very clear feeling" that she was no longer perceived as an influential politician.

"As far as influence in politics is concerned, you're done. All that matters to Putin is power. On this last visit, he also brought Lavrov with him, or we often met alone," Merkel said.

As a reminder, earlier in September, Angela Merkel urged to take Putin's words seriously. However, her statement that peace in Europe is allegedly impossible without Russia's participation was later sharply responded to by the Office of the President of Ukraine.

We would also add that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently admitted that he still receives advice from Angela Merkel, his predecessor in office.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 25/11/2022