In a speech at the opening of the Helmut Kohl Foundation, former Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke about the war in Ukraine. She also commented on relations with Russia. The Ukrainian ambassador Melnyk is stunned.

Angela Merkel gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the “Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Kohl-Foundation”. In it, Merkel said that Kohl would certainly “do everything possible” to protect and restore Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity. And then further: At the same time, Kohl never lost sight of “the day after”.

If one applied Kohl’s policy to today, one would “always also think about the currently unthinkable, almost unimaginable – namely how something like relations with and with Russia can be developed again.”

Kohl would not have done either of the two in “a German solo effort,” said Merkel.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, reacted angrily to Merkel’s statements on Twitter. He writes: “Hard to believe: the ex-chancellor, who made Moscow’s aggression against the Ukrainians possible with her years of Putin-friendly coziness, shamelessly philosophizes about ”how something like relations with us can be developed again with Russia”.

Angela Merkel rarely comments on the current political situation. She doesn’t really want to get involved from the sidelines, said the former chancellor.