Germany’s Angela Merkel recalls tricky dealings with world leaders from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin during her 16-year chancellorship in her frank memoirs, published as her legacy comes under intense scrutiny.
Here are some quotes from “Freedom: Memories 1954-2021” according to extracts released in Die Zeit weekly before next week’s official publication:
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN
“Someone who was always on his guard to avoid being treated badly and always ready to dish it out, including power games with dogs and making others wait for him. You could find all this childish, reprehensible. You could shake your head at it. But it didn’t take Russia off the map.”
“He was not interested in building democratic structures or prosperity for a well-functioning economy in his country or elsewhere. Rather, he wanted to counter the fact that the United States had emerged victorious from the Cold War. He wanted Russia to remain an indispensable pole in a multipolar world after the end of the Cold War. To achieve this, he primarily drew on his experience in the security services.”
WRANGLING OVER UKRAINE AT NATO SUMMIT IN BUCHAREST, 2008:
“I thought it was an illusion to assume that the Membership Action Plan (MAP) status would have given Ukraine and Georgia protection from Putin’s aggression, that this status would have had a deterrent effect to the extent that Putin would have accepted the developments without doing anything.
“Would it have been conceivable that NATO member states would have responded militarily – with material as well as troops – and intervened? Would it have been conceivable that I, as Federal Chancellor, would have asked the German Bundestag for such a mandate for our Bundeswehr as well and would have received a majority in favour?”
“In another context, which I no longer remember in detail
he (Putin) later said to me: “You won’t be Chancellor forever. And then they’ll become a member of NATO. And I want to prevent that.” And I thought: You won’t be president forever either. Nevertheless, my worries about future tensions with Russia in Bucharest had not diminished.”
ON DONALD TRUMP
“He saw everything from the perspective of the property developer he was before entering politics. Each parcel of land could only be sold once, and if he didn’t get it someone else did. That’s how he saw the world.”
“For years, the many German cars on the streets of New York had been a thorn in his side. That Americans were buying them could, in his opinion, only be due to dumping prices and alleged exchange rate manipulation between the euro and the dollar.”
She wrote how Trump did not shake her hand for photographers at a White House meeting in 2017 even after she whispered to him that they should. “As soon as I said that, I shook my head inwardly at myself. How could I have forgotten that Trump knew exactly what effect he wanted to achieve.”
“He was obviously very fascinated by the Russian president. In the years that followed I had the impression that politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits captivated him.
“We talked on two different levels. Trump on an emotional level, me on a factual one. For him, all countries were in competition with each other, in which the success of one was the failure of the other. He did not believe that co-operation could increase the prosperity of all.”
CHILDHOOD AND LIFE IN COMMUNIST EAST GERMANY:
“Life in the GDR was a constant life on the edge. Even if a day began in a carefree manner, everything could change in a matter of seconds if political boundaries were transgressed… the state knew no mercy. Finding out exactly where these boundaries lay was the real art of living. My somewhat conciliatory character and my pragmatic approach helped me.”
She described a sense of superiority “because, despite everything, this state did not manage to deprive me of something that made me live, feel and sense: a certain degree of carefreeness.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to visit Russian Federation next week and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the renewal of the Black Sea grain agreement, Bloomberg wrote Monday, citing information from two Turkish officials familiar with the matter.
“Erdogan may travel to Russia on Sept. 8 before heading to India to attend the G-20 summit in New Delhi, the interlocutors said. The Turkish presidential administration declined to comment to Bloomberg,” the report said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to hold telephone conversations with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, January 4.
Turkey’s Anadolu news agency quoted Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalın, as saying, “Turkish President Erdoğan will hold a telephone conversation with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts on Wednesday.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the next few days.
The Turkish President said this while speaking to the participants of TRT World Forum in Istanbul, Anadolu Agency reported.
According to Erdogan, talks with Putin are scheduled for Sunday, December 11. The main topic will be the operation of the grain corridor. A conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski is also scheduled, Erdoğan said.
He also stressed that Ankara’s diplomatic efforts are aimed at achieving peace in the Black Sea region.
“Despite the fact that the Istanbul dialogue process between Russia and Ukraine, has been interrupted, this platform is still the most ideal for long-term peace,” Erdogan is confident.
Washington takes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s words about nuclear weapons seriously, but so far sees no need to change its strategic positions, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.
“We should always take this kind of rhetoric seriously. It’s not like what he’s been saying in the past seven months. We’ve taken it seriously,” Kirby said in response to a reporter’s related question.
“We are following Russia’s strategic position as best we can. If necessary, we will change our (position). We see no indication that this is required at the present time,” he added.
Earlier Wednesday, Putin warned those seeking to blackmail Russia with nuclear weapons that the wind rose could turn in their favor.
The President of the Russian Federation noted that “when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to hold telephone talks with Russian and Ukrainian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky in the near future, Western media reported on Thursday.
“At the end of this week or early next, I plan to have telephone conversations on the issue of the grain corridor with both Putin and Zelensky,” Erdogan said during a press conference in Madrid.
He noted that Turkey seeks to “pursue a balanced policy, not a course based on confrontation.” Erdogan hopes for fruitful talks with both leaders.
