Germany's president admits mistakes in previous dialogue efforts with Russia

Germany's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier has admitted he made errors in coverage towards Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Steinmeier mentioned that his efforts -- as a former German international minister -- to interact with Moscow had failed.

"We failed on many factors,” the German President informed ZDF tv on Tuesday, conceding that amongst European nations “there have been totally different assessments” of Russia.

“It's true that we should always have taken the warnings of our jap European companions extra severely, notably relating to the time after 2014 [when Russia annexed Crimea],” he mentioned.

Steinmeier twice served as ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s international minister, most just lately from 2013 to 2017, and earlier than that as ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s chief of employees.

Throughout that point, Germany pursued dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin on democracy and human rights, in addition to cultivating shut power ties.

However Steinmeier has drawn criticism, amid many social media photographs of him beforehand embracing Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Steinmeier has additionally admitted that his assist for constructing the Nord Stream 2 fuel pipeline was additionally "clearly" a mistake.

"We have been sticking to a bridge through which Russia not believed and which different companions had warned us in opposition to," he mentioned.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended the pipeline within the week that Russia invaded Ukraine.