Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk harshly criticized former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (who held the post from 2005 to 2021) for justifying her policy towards Russia during her 16 years in office.
“Unfortunately, in the first interview after the change of government six months ago, there was ‘not a hint of self-criticism’,” Melnick told the DPA news agency on Wednesday.
He said the former chancellor’s statements “about the infallibility of her course towards Russia and her overly condescending attitude” towards the Russian leadership were “bewildering”.
In her first interaction with the press since stepping down as chancellor on Tuesday in Berlin, Merkel defended her political course towards Russia against harsh criticism in recent months.
“I see no need to say now that it was wrong and therefore I will not apologise,” she said.
Melnyk countered the former FRG head of government by referring to the current developments in Ukraine. The diplomat asked how this could have happened if, in his words, “Germany’s policy towards Russia has been so remarkable over the last decades”.
“Merkel’s current statements are very regrettable,” Melnyk said.
“Because without an honest thorough examination of Germany’s policy towards Russia, it is absolutely impossible to draw the right conclusions about future relations with Moscow and to halt its aggression,” the ambassador believes.
The Ukrainian side, in his view, is convinced that the position of the FRG on Ukraine’s membership of NATO and prospects of joining the European Union, the years of refusal to supply arms after the events of 2014 and the “careless promotion” of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline have led to Russia launching a special military operation in Ukraine.
Merkel was Chancellor of Germany when the 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine took place and then the Minsk agreements to resolve the conflict in Donbass were concluded with her involvement. The former chancellor’s name often appears in discussions about past policies towards Russia. She has been blamed for supporting Nord Stream 2 until the last minute and for opposing Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the alliance at the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008.
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