Radoslaw Sikorski said that “Berlin made a mistake when it believed it would talk to the Russian leader on behalf of Germany, not the EU”.
Mr. Sikorski, who once served as Poland’s foreign minister, believes that Europe owes Merkel a debt of gratitude for making the Minsk peace accords happen.
“We should be grateful to Chancellor Merkel who is using her contacts with Putin to maintain peace in Ukraine,” Sikorski said in comments aired by Poland’s TVN25 Biznes i Swiat network.
He added, however, that “Germany thought it would do this as Germany, not the European Union as a whole, as part of the so-called ‘Normandy format’.”
“I made it perfectly clear to our German partners that this was a mistake,” Sikorski noted.
“Germany is powerful enough to negotiate with Russia, but not enough to influence Moscow’s actions,” he added.