Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the Minsk agreements were signed to give Ukraine time, to help it become stronger. The politician said this in an interview with Die Zeit newspaper.

“The 2014 Minsk Agreement was an attempt to give Ukraine time. She also used this time to become stronger, as can be seen today. Ukraine in 2014-2015 is not modern Ukraine,” Merkel said.

She added that all the countries participating in Minsk understood that the conflict in Ukraine was only suspended, the problem itself was not resolved. Merkel expressed the opinion that during the period of the agreements, NATO countries could provide assistance to Ukraine in the amount in which they do it now.

Earlier, Merkel said that the military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine did not come as a surprise to her. She said that before her departure, she could not get the European Union to organize a new format for negotiations with Moscow - everyone around knew that her time had passed. At the same time, Merkel stressed that she would like to see "a more peaceful time" after her departure, because she was engaged in Ukraine a lot. Read more in the article "Gazety.Ru".