Last month, in an interview with a Hungarian outlet, Merkel made comments that were perceived by some – including politicians in the Baltics and Poland – as attributing blame to them for blocking dialogue with Russia, which led to the full-scale invasion.

Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) called her words "impertinent and wrong." Lithuania's former foreign minister Linas Linkevicius said Merkel "missed an opportunity to be quiet." 

At the time, Merkel refused to explain or clarify her comments.

But on Thursday, the German Press Agency, DPA, reported that Merkel told public broadcaster Phoenix that the passage from her autobiography "Freedom" was placed "in the wrong context."

The extract said the Baltic states and Poland rejected a dialogue format with Russia proposed by Merkel in 2021.

However, this was "not associated with an assignment of blame," Merkel said.

"This war broke out, it has changed our world, it is an aggression by the Russian Federation, the Russian Republic, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin," the former chancellor said.

"None of us - everyone, me, everyone else - was able to prevent this war."

Regarding a statement by former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel that there would have been no war in Ukraine if she had remained in power, Merkel said this was "completely speculative."

She said that the coronavirus pandemic had a major impact because the usual dialogue formats collapsed, and she was not able to speak to Putin regularly.

This coronavirus effect was "even more difficult when dealing with countries that are not democratically governed," she said.

However, it had been clear to her for "many, many years" that there was a serious danger from Putin, she said.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!