Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has admitted mistakes in his Russia policy.
This includes his advocacy of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which last year he described as a “bridge” in relations between the two countries.
"My adherence to Nord Stream 2 was clearly a mistake," said the Federal President on Monday in a conversation with journalists at Bellevue Palace, which the FAZ was present.
"We clung to bridges that Russia no longer believed in and that our partners warned us about," the president said.
At the weekend, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, repeatedly criticized him, albeit particularly harshly.
Eckhart Lohse
Head of the parliamentary editorial office in Berlin.
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Steinmeier practiced very fundamental self-criticism.
"My assessment was that Vladimir Putin would not accept the complete economic, political and moral ruin of his country for his imperial madness.
Like others, I was wrong.” He spoke of a “bitter record” of Russia policy.
“We have failed in establishing a common European house that includes Russia.
We failed with the approach of including Russia in a common security architecture.”
The responsibility for the war lies with Putin, "we shouldn't take it upon ourselves".
But that doesn't mean "that we don't have to reconsider some things where we made mistakes".
The Federal President was convinced that with a Russia under the leadership of Putin there would be “no return to the status quo before the war”.
Steinmeier also defended himself against Melnyk's accusation that he had no connection to Ukraine.
"I suffer a lot with the people of Ukraine," he said on Monday.
"After the beginning of 2014, no other country has shaped my work so much."