Merkel talks about Putin: "One should take his words seriously" - Melnyk fumes

Created: 09/30/2022, 05:25

By: Franziska Schwarz

Angela Merkel at the opening event of the Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl Foundation © Christoph Soeder/dpa

Statements by Angela Merkel on the Ukraine war are causing a stir.

One should take Putin's words "seriously", demands the former chancellor.

Berlin - Will Vladimir Putin be able to fulfill his always subliminal nuclear threats against the West in the Ukraine war?

This question is currently being asked by anyone who is trusted to give a qualified answer in the broadest sense.

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel saw the Kremlin chief in 16 years of office, so she could have even more insight into the matter.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, the former CDU head of government has hardly spoken.

Merkel on Putin: "Taking words seriously is a sign of political wisdom"

At one of her rare public appearances, on Tuesday in Berlin, Merkel made Putin her own topic.

"You should take your words seriously," she said in a speech some time ago in response to an interview question.

Merkel continued that she wanted to add in view of the latest development: "Taking words seriously, not dismissing them from the outset as just a bluff, but seriously dealing with them, is by no means a sign of weakness or appeasement, but a Proof of political cleverness - a cleverness that helps to maintain room for maneuver or, at least as important, even to develop new ones."

The CDU politician was referring to Putin's announcement in the course of his partial mobilization that the use of "all available means" (including nuclear weapons) is by no means "a bluff" when there are feelings of a Russian threat.

Military expert at "Maischberger": "Fear of the bomb is a weapon"

The ARD talk "Sandra Maischberger" took up Merkel's statement on Wednesday (September 28) directly.

The invited military expert Florence Gaub, however, was more relaxed about Putin's threats: "The bomb is not a weapon, the fear of the bomb is a weapon," she said.

Incidentally, the reason for Merkel's appearance was not a round table discussion on the Ukraine war, but a commemoration event for the late ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

The "Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Kohl-Foundation" started its work in Berlin on September 27th.

Melnyk attacks Merkel for Kohl's statement: "Shameless philosophizing"

There, Merkel also paid tribute to the ex-CDU chancellor, saying that if he were still alive and were chancellor, in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine he would “always think about the unthinkable at the moment”, namely “how something like relations with and with Russia could be developed again.”

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An assumption that Andriy Melnyk did not like at all.

On Twitter, the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin then accused Merkel of “years of pro-Putin coziness” that made the military invasion of Ukraine possible in the first place, and described her admission as “shameless philosophizing”:

CDU leader Friedrich Merz was also a guest in Berlin this Tuesday evening.

At a clear distance from Merkel on the list of speakers, he had previously said a “welcome”, recalled Kohl's formative role in German and European unification and praised him as a “great statesman”.