For the war in Ukraine and the role the Vladimir Putin In Europe’s geopolitical developments in recent years, the Friedrich Mertzin an interview with the French magazine Paris Match.
German Chancellor said that ‘Everyone was wrong about Putin“, With Friedrich Mertz confessing that he himself was always skeptical, but he should have quickly realized the magnitude of the Russian president’s threat long before 2022 and his attack on Ukraine.
«We should have perceived the magnitude of the threat in 2014, when he invaded Crimea, and perhaps as early as 2008, when he attacked Georgia“, Said the German Chancellor.
However, he expressed the hope “to relive, one day, good neighborhood relations with the Russians”, but adding that “unfortunately, we are far from it, because we are facing Putin, a” kleptocratic system “that approached the authoritarian.”
“Let’s remind us of the historical size of what is happening: assailant to Ukraine, Putin attacked the second largest country in the European continent“, He stressed.
Asked whether he will talk to Moscow again, Mertz said that If this can be useful to something, it will doalthough previous experiences showed that it did not serve.
“The goal is to return to a class and a mutual respect! At the time of German integration, things were not easy – nevertheless we worked with Michael Gorbachev. This is the balance we met after the fall of the USSR in 1991, and until 2022. Putin no longer respects this balance. We hope to find it again, “he said.
Finally, regarding Europe’s relationship with Trump’s US, Mertz is convinced that “workers hard to become stronger“, Will be possible”to negotiate with Americans as equal».
Finally, the German Chancellor said he was ready to work with French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he calls his “friend”, towards the exit of Europe from “weakness” and “dependence”.