Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel firmly denied accusations that she blamed Poland and the Baltic states for the outbreak of Russia’s war against Ukraine, dismissing the claims as “fake news.”

In an interview with the German public broadcaster Phoenix, Merkel said that comments attributed to her had been taken out of context. She stressed that the claims originated from a misinterpretation of remarks related to her book Freiheit (“Freedom”).
“You have to call it fake news, in the sense that it was never said,” she stated, noting that her comments referred strictly to the timeline described in her memoir.

Merkel added that for an entire year after her book’s release, no controversy emerged — until “a big fuss suddenly began because hardly anyone reads the original anymore.”

When asked directly whether she intended to blame Poland or the Baltic countries for the start of the war, Merkel was categorical:
“No. We all failed — myself included, and everyone else — to prevent this war, including in our discussions with the Americans.”

The backlash originated from an October interview with Hungarian outlet Partizán, in which Merkel discussed Poland and the Baltic states’ refusal to support her proposal for direct talks between herself, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the summer of 2021, as Russian troops were massing near Ukraine’s borders.

Leaders in Poland and the Baltic region reacted strongly, interpreting her remarks as an indirect attempt to assign them responsibility for the invasion that followed six months later.

Responding to the criticism, Merkel clarified that only days before her proposal to the European Council, U.S. President Joe Biden had met with Putin.
“I simply thought it was wrong for the Europeans not to seek a conversation with Putin themselves, leaving everything to the U.S. administration,” she explained.

She emphasized that this was the sole reason she supported her proposal — which ultimately faced resistance — and stressed that there was never any suggestion of assigning blame for the outbreak of the war.