BERLIN, December 7. /TASS/. The Minsk accords were signed in order to "give Ukraine time" to make the country stronger, ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel (in office from 2005 to 2021) said in an interview with the Zeit newspaper published on Wednesday.

"The 2014 Minsk agreement was an attempt to give time to Ukraine. It also used this time to become stronger as can be seen today. The Ukraine of 2014-2015 is not the modern Ukraine," the politician said.

According to her, "it was clear to everyone" that the conflict had stalled and the problem had not been resolved "yet this was precisely what gave Ukraine invaluable time." She expressed doubt that at that time NATO states would have been able to support Kiev to the extent that they do now.

Merkel was the German chancellor when the 2014 state coup occurred in Ukraine and the Minsk agreements on settling the Donbass conflict were concluded with her participation.

On February 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that following the recognition of the DPR and LPR, the Minsk accords did not exist anymore yet this was not Russia’s fault. According to him, the agreements were killed by the current Kiev regime long before the recognition of the Donbass republics.