Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during her first interview since her resignation, said that she "does not blame herself" for the fact that Russia had started a full-scale war against Ukraine.
This was reported by Spiegel.
Asked if she could have done more to prevent a war in Ukraine, Merkel said: "I don't blame myself. It was not possible to create a security architecture that could have prevented this."
"Could more have been done to prevent such a tragedy - I already believe that this situation is a significant tragedy - could it have been prevented? And that's why you ask yourself that, and of course I still ask myself that question," she said.
At the same time, the ex-chancellor dismissed the accusation by Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, Andrei Melnyk, that she had pursued a policy of pacification against Russia.
"I don't think so. Diplomacy, if it fails, is not wrong," Merkel noted and added that without the Minsk agreements, in her opinion, the situation in Ukraine would have been even more critical.
The same, the former German chancellor said, applies to her decision not to support granting Ukraine a NATO membership action plan in 2008.
"I don't think I have to admit I was wrong, and I won't apologize for that (decision)," Merkel said.
