German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she disagreed with the Russian president already at the moment when Vladimir Putin spoke in the Bundestag in 2001. Merkel has always been aware of the “significant differences” between the two, the chancellor said in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
“For the Russian president, the collapse of the Soviet Union is a tragic event, we, on the contrary, felt the joy of the end of the Cold War, the joy of German and European unity,” said Merkel, answering a question about her expectations in relations with Putin in 2005 during her accession. to the post.
Merkel said that then she could not imagine that Putin would “annex Crimea”, and in eastern Ukraine the situation would come to hostilities.
Putin delivered a speech to the Bundestag on September 25, 2001. The President spoke about the long-standing traditions of Russian-German relations, the contribution of the Germans to the development of the Russian economy and culture, and also touched upon the issue of ensuring global security and other topics.
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