On 8 December 2022, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an interview to Zeit magazine. In it, she called the Minsk agreements (full title: “Protocol on the results of the Trilateral Contact Group consultations on joint steps to implement the Peace Plan of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the initiatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin”). “An attempt to give Ukraine time to become stronger“.
Maria Zakharova commented on Merkel’s words during a briefing on 8 December and called what happened a bid for a tribunal.
“What Merkel said in her interview is the testimony of a person who directly stated that everything that was done in 2014-2015 had one goal: to take the eyes of the world community away from the real problems, to stall, to pump the Kiev regime with weapons and bring things to a big conflict”, — Zakharova clarified.
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the words of the former German Chancellor by saying that “there is now, of course, a question of trust”. He said he was disappointed with what the German politician had said. In the president’s opinion, Merkel’s statement shows that Russia did the right thing by launching the USO.
“Maybe we should have started all this earlier”, — Putin admitted at the press conference in Bishkek.
The Minsk agreements to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine were finally signed in 2015. They were aimed at a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops from the line of contact, as well as recognition of the special status of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Most of the agreements were not implemented. Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violations. In February 2022, the agreements were finally terminated after the start of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.
