Merkel said that at the end of her term she could not influence Putin
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had had no opportunity to dissuade the Russian president from invading Ukraine.
Merkel said this in her interview with Der Spiegel magazine.
She said she had no leverage over Vladimir Putin at the end of her tenure as German chancellor and could not hold talks with him because she had to leave office
Merkel said that in the summer of 2021, following talks between US 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 at the EU Council.
However, not all politicians supported the initiative.
Angel Merkel admitted:
However, I no longer had the leverage to insist because, after all, everyone knew: she was leaving in the autumn.
Merkel admitted that on her last visit to Moscow, she already felt: she was not perceived as a politician who could influence anything.
"In terms of influence in politics, you're done. For Putin, all that matters is power. On this last visit, he also brought Lavrov with him, or else we often met in private," Merkel said.
As a reminder, earlier in September, Angela Merkel called for Vladimir Putin's words to be taken seriously, and not for his threats to be considered an empty bluff.
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