Merkel blasted by Baltics, Poland for suggesting they share blame for Russia’s Ukraine invasion“I am astonished that after everything that has happened in Ukraine, she still thinks this way,” a former leader says of ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merkel and Macron had earlier said they used the Minsk treaty to buy time for war with Russia. Russia was already in discussions with the Biden administration over Ukraine, missiles at the Russia's border with Eastern Europe, and security guarantees from the US in writing.
October 6, 2025 7:50 pm CET
By Ketrin Jochecová
Polish and Baltic officials have reacted furiously to what they perceive as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel partly blaming them for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Their censure of Europe’s most important politician of the last two decades has again exposed the failure of Merkel’s approach to Russia, and further tarnishes the ex-chancellor’s legacy as her flagship immigration and energy policies continue to be scorned and dismantled by her successors.
In an interview with Hungarian opposition media Partizán published on Friday, Merkel noted the refusal by Eastern European countries to permit direct talks between her, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron when describing the lead-up to Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“In June 2021, I felt that Putin was no longer taking the Minsk agreement seriously,” Merkel said, referring to the peace agreement relating to control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region following the 2014-2015 conflict. “And that’s why I wanted a new format where we, as the European Union, could talk directly with Putin.”
At a European Council meeting that month, Merkel and Macron proposed direct negotiations with other leaders in response to the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine’s border. But a coalition of Eastern European countries, including Poland, opposed the idea.
“This was not supported by some. It was mainly the Baltic states, but Poland was also against it,” she said.
Merkel explained that these countries had been “afraid” that “we would not have a common policy toward Russia … In any case, it didn’t happen. Then I left office, and then Putin’s aggression began.”
Directly contradicting Merkel, former Latvian Prime Minister Krišjanis Karinš said on Monday that at the time, many countries had not understood Russia, “including Germany and the former chancellor herself.
“I consistently told her that you cannot deal with Putin ‘in good faith,’ but she believed that the Baltic states were wrong. I was well aware of Merkel’s views, but I am astonished that after everything that has happened in Ukraine, she still thinks this way,” Karinš said.
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