“How, in the new world order after the end of the Cold War, was it possible to maintain contacts with a politician like Putin. We need to try to involve him in general prosperity,” the politician noted. According to Merkel, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project contributed to such inclusion. She pointed out that this attempt “although it turned out to be a failure, it is not a mistake.”
The ex-chancellor explained that she “made every effort to prevent the situation that exists now.” Previous editionDie Zeitexclusively published excerpts from Merkel's memoirs, in which she wrote that she was struck by Putin's confidence in his own rightness, as well as his desire to be treated with respect. The politician said that in 2008 she opposed the admission of Ukraine and Georgia to the North Atlantic Alliance.