Merkel aggrevated the situation in Crimea in 2014

From the Obozrevatel:

""There was a request": Lithuania claims Merkel obstructed Kyiv's defense of Crimea in 2014 

Katya Poplyuyko, 10/25/2025 

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel thwarted Ukraine's efforts to defend Crimea from Russian occupation in 2014. This involved the Russian seizure of the peninsula's parliament building, during which the Ukrainian side offered no resistance.

The corresponding statement was made by Jonas Vytautas Zukas, Commander-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces from 2014 to 2019 and the country's representative to NATO, according to die Welt.

Merkel Influenced the Situation in Crimea in 2014 

 In his book, Zukas claims that Angela Merkel allegedly influenced the actions of the Ukrainian government during the occupation of Crimea, persuading them not to offer armed resistance to Russian troops.  

The former Commander-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces noted that he was in Kyiv at the time, meeting with then-acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov. He recalled that, while discussing the reasons for the lack of resistance during the seizure of the Crimean parliament, he heard Turchynov say that "it was Merkel's request in a phone conversation."...

The article notes that Merkel has never been viewed unambiguously in Poland and the Baltic states. Her decision to support the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project after the occupation of Crimea in 2014 was viewed in Warsaw as a de facto gift to Moscow, which provoked harsh criticism..."

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To be fair, the pressure on Ukraine not to resist Russian aggression in Crimea in 2014 came mostly for then-US president Obama.