Berlin’s Russia policy in wake of annexation of Crimea was wrong, Scholz admits

“I can unequivocally say that, in hindsight, it would’ve been prudent to have a more robust response to the annexation of Crimea,” said Scholz.

Read also: German chancellor opposes joint ban on Russians entering EU

According to the chancellor, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would not have become as obsessed with Ukraine if the international community mounted a more coherent and powerful response to him seizing the Ukrainian peninsula.

After fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country to Russia, Moscow used its Black Sea Fleet naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea, to launch the invasion and subsequent annexation of the peninsula in 2014. Despite this, Germany and Russia signed a deal to build the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline in 2015, deepening the country’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

Read also: Europe can win Putin’s gas war but must learn Nord Stream lessons

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