Overview

• In a Partizán interview during a Hungary visit, Angela Merkel said Poland and the Baltic states blocked her proposed EU format for direct talks with Vladimir Putin in June 2021, which she suggested contributed to the failure to deter the invasion.
• Former Latvian prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš criticized her stance as naive toward Putin, while Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia alone bears responsibility for the war.
• In Poland, former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki denounced her comments, and foreign minister Radosław Sikorski disputed her recollection of regional objections.
• Former Polish ambassador Marek Magierowski said media overstated Merkel’s words, arguing she described opposition to a talks format rather than co‑responsibility for the war.
• The controversy renews scrutiny of Merkel’s Russia record, from opposing Ukraine’s NATO membership in 2008 to backing energy links with Moscow, as Russia carries out large-scale strikes on Ukrainian cities including Lviv.