...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as
Mom...
has warned Russia she would not allow it "trample on international law" and undermine the peaceful post-Cold War order in Europe. After three hours of talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead..., a disillusioned Dr Merkel warned Moscow "old thinking about spheres of influence" would not assert itself again in Europe.
While the German leader delivered her stark warning during a speech in Sydney, Mr Putin told German television the key to resolving the conflict over Ukraine lay in maintaining strong Russian-German relations.
In an interview with ARD public television, Mr Putin made his clearest concession yet that Moscow was assisting rebels in eastern Ukraine with troops and weapons. Asked about the claims, confirmed by outside observers but denied consistently by the Kremlin, Mr Putin said: "Anyone waging a fight . . . will always find weapons." He attacked the West for ignoring Ukraine's use of heavy weapons to "annihilate" civilians in rebel-held areas.
"Is that what you want? We certainly don't. And we won't let it happen," he said.
| How are we going to stop it, pray tell? |