Merkel defends Russia legacy, says ‘nothing to apologise for’

BSS :
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday defended her years-long policy of detente towards Moscow, saying she had “nothing to apologise for” even as the Ukraine war casts a pall on her legacy.
In her first major interview since stepping down six months ago, Merkel insisted she had not been naive in her dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Diplomacy isn’t wrong just because it hasn’t worked,” the 67-year-old said on stage in a Berlin theatre, in an interview broadcast on the Phoenix news channel.
She recalled her support for economic sanctions against Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, and the German-French efforts to keep the Minsk peace process for Ukraine alive.”I don’t have to blame myself for not trying hard enough,” the conservative ex-chancellor said. “I don’t see that I have to say ‘that was wrong’ and that’s why I have nothing to apologise for.”
The veteran leader, who frequently met with Putin during her 16 years in power and championed a commerce-driven, pragmatic approach towards Moscow, said the February 24 invasion of Ukraine had marked a “turning point”.
· ‘Wants to destroy Europe’ –
There was “no justification whatsoever” for the “brutal” and illegal war of aggression, she said, adding that Putin had made “a big mistake”.
“He wants to destroy Europe,” she warned.