Podolyak lashed out at Merkel for saying he tried to prevent conflict

Adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak harshly criticized the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who in an interview with Zeit said that she “used everything at my disposal to prevent this situation (Ukrainian conflict – Ed.).

“Fantastic. After all, the war didn’t start, right?” Merkel Podolyak asked on his Twitter, accusing her of receiving cheap gas from Russia and making the whole of Europe completely dependent on Russian energy resources.

Podolyak also attacked Merkel for saying that “we need to think about negotiations.”

“One question. Negotiations about what? Again about cheap gas from Russia?” Podolyak asked again.

He expressed outrage that, after a year of conflict, Merkel “deeply despises freedom”, ignores the destruction during the fighting and “openly hates Ukraine’s right to self-defense.”

“If you cannot correct the mistakes of the past, just stop making excuses and encouraging the aggressor,” Podolyak said, referring to Merkel.

Russia has previously repeatedly stated that the Kyiv authorities refuse to negotiate. At the same time, many Western experts and politicians believe that it is through negotiations that the conflict can be resolved. So Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Italy Antonio Tajani said at a press conference in Rome in early April: “I would like to see if we can reach a meeting between Ukraine and Russia if we want to achieve peace.”