TLDR; Merkel says that even if the West wins, the West loses this war.

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Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been in power for 16 years, made a rare appearance at the Kohl Foundation in Berlin, Germany. Merkel hopes to take this opportunity to give Europe a few words of advice.
The first point is that what Putin says should be really listened to, don't take it seriously, or the consequences will be very serious! It can be said that in a group of European leaders, Merkel is the most understanding Putin, the two have dealt with too much. When the West thinks that Putin is just playing it cool and bluffing, Merkel understands that Putin is not joking but coming true!
The four eastern states of Ukraine have already been designated as the territory of the Russian Federation, and 300,000 troops have been mobilized to the city. What is the attitude of the United States and Europe in the face of Putin's breakthrough? Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Russia will not use nuclear weapons because the United States and Europe will stop Russia; U.S. Secretary of State Blinken let it be known that as long as Russia dares to use nuclear weapons, the United States will make a very terrible countermeasure.
On the frontline battlefield, Ukrainian armed forces are still on the offensive and have now gradually surrounded some cities in Donetsk region, striking and cutting off Russian supply lines; two gas pipelines in Nord Stream were severely damaged during the same period, and the last buffer zone between Russia and Europe was cut off.
"We will certainly use all the weapons available to us", Putin said in his speech to the nation! Did the United States and Europe listen? Apparently not, otherwise they would not have repeatedly tested Russia's bottom line and challenged Putin's red line. In this regard, Merk had to warn Europe again and warn the United States.
The second point is to give Russia some leeway, but also to Europe, to the world to leave some leeway. At the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, I was impressed by a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, something along the lines of "Has NATO ever thought about the consequences of pushing a world power into a desperate situation"? Now it seems that China has hit the nail on the head, the United States and NATO have not thought about this. What is the United States thinking about? The U.S. is thinking about how it can bring Russia to its knees! But the reality can do it? Can the U.S. simply make Russia as a country disappear from the world?
The U.S. is driving Russia into extinction while driving itself, Europe, and the world into extinction! Putin has long made it clear that "without Russia, what does the world need"? I think the United States understands this implication.
The last point, don't just look at the present, but also look at the future. We have just said that it is not realistic for Russia to disappear from the world, so what happens next? Even if Russia and Ukraine finally stop fighting, how is the West going to develop relations with Russia? How does the United States intend to treat Russia? The skin has been torn, in today's globalization, who can do the same old thing?


Politics is War by Other Means