Lame duck Merkel could not stop Putin’s war

Ex- German chancellor admits she was ‘powerless’ to confront Russian leader towards end of her reign

‘Some people objected and I no longer had the strength to push it through because, after all, everyone knew: she’s leaving in autumn’

‘I would have wished for a more peaceful time after my departure. but it didn’t come as a surprise. The Minsk Agreement was eroded’

ANGELA MERKEL has admitted she did not have the political strength to stop Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine because she was a lame duck before leaving office.

Mrs Merkel wanted to hold talks with the Russian president and Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart, in 2021, her final summer in power.

But she was unable to get the backing of other EU leaders for the independent talks within the European Council. “Some people objected and I no longer had the strength to push it through because, after all, everyone knew: she’s leaving in autumn,” she told Der Spiegel.

Mrs Merkel was Europe’s most influential leader for most of her 16 years in power, which ended in her handing over to Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats in December after elections in September 2021.

She sensed the waning of her influence on a farewell trip to Moscow after years of being Europe’s main interlocutor with Putin.

“The feeling was very clear: ‘In terms of power politics, you’re through’. For Putin, only power counts,” said Mrs Merkel, who speaks fluent Russian.

The European talks would have been held after Joe Biden, the US president, met the Russian leader in 2021.

The former German chancellor’s legacy has come under criticism since Mr Putin launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine in February this year.

After Moscow’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, Mrs Merkel and Mr Macron played a crucial role in brokering the Minsk peace negotiations that ended the conflict.

Mrs Merkel, 68, is now blamed for her Russian policy, which has left Germany addicted to cheap imports of Kremlin-controlled gas.

She has also faced criticism for opposing Ukraine’s wish to join Nato in 2008, and for 2014 EU sanctions against Moscow which did not go far enough to deter a second invasion.

“I would have wished for a more peaceful time after my departure, because I’ve dealt with Ukraine a lot,” said Mrs Merkel, who was born in the former East Germany.

“But it didn’t come as a surprise. The Minsk Agreement was eroded.”

Mrs Merkel attacked critics who write “as if I had nothing to do with anything other than Minsk and ask how she could have let Ukraine out of her sight”.

She also confronted the 2015 migrant crisis and the eurozone crisis while she was in power.

“There were also federal elections and coalition negotiations, there was always Greece, I broke my pelvis. At the moment, for example, everyone is talking about the Russian war, but nobody is talking about the Eu-turkey deal,” she said referring to the 2015 migrant deal with Ankara.

The former leader said it was “time for a new approach” because of a lack of progress by her government not just on Ukraine but also conflicts in Moldova, Georgia, Syria and Libya.

Meanwhile, Russian bombardment of Kherson, recently retaken by Ukrainian forces, killed at least four people and wounded 10, the region’s governor said yesterday.

“The Russian invaders opened fire on a residential area with multiple rocket launchers. A large building caught fire,” Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson military administration, said on Telegram.

Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, said yesterday that parliament would approve Finland and Sweden’s accession to Nato next year, with only Ankara left to back their applications.

“As we have already informed Sweden and Finland, Hungary supports the Nato membership of these two countries. It will be on the agenda of the first session of parliament [next year],” Mr Orban told reporters after meeting regional counterparts in Slovakia.

Elsewhere, James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, has travelled to Ukraine, where he will meet with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president, and has announced a further £3million of support to rebuild vital local infrastructure.

That includes providing an additional 35 emergency vehicles, including 24 ambulances and six armoured vehicles, which will be sent to Ukraine from the UK, to support civilians caught in the conflict.

Mr Cleverly, who will also meet Dmytro Kuleba, foreign minister and other key members of the Ukrainian government, said: “As winter sets in, Russia is continuing to try and break Ukrainian resolve through its brutal attacks on civilians, hospitals and energy infrastructure. Russia will fail.”