Andriy Melnyk made the comment in an interview with Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper this week, Poland's tvp.info website reported.
Ukraine’s envoy in Germany for the past eight years, Melnyk said that “the past 50 days have been a painful road for German politics,” as quoted by tvp.info.
The ambassador added: “The Germans had been living in a world where everything looked rosy and they felt secure - militarily, but also in terms of energy. Now people have realised that these lies are collapsing,” tvp.info reported.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has recently admitted that his Russia policy had been wrong, notably in its support for the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, tvp.info wrote.
It quoted Melnyk as saying that "courageous deeds" were needed "to correct those fatally wrong decisions.”
Melnyk told Süddeutsche Zeitung that "the clearest sign of German solidarity with Ukraine would be an immediate embargo on Russian gas and oil,” as cited by tvp.info.
Scholz visit a priority
According to Melnyk, a priority now would be for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to travel to Kyiv, as he has the power to decide on Berlin’s weapons supplies for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, tvp.info reported.
Melnyk said such a trip would be a sign that Scholz “believes in a victory for Ukraine,” tvp.info reported.
However, Scholz’s “reserved approach to weapons supplies and sanctions so far” suggests “he might be hoping for a return to rapprochement with Russia,” Melnyk told Süddeutsche Zeitung, according to tvp.info.
‘We trusted Merkel’
When asked whether Germany was partly to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and whether ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel could have prevented the war, Melnyk said: "I think so," tvp.info reported.
He added that his country had “almost blindly trusted” Merkel, according to tvp.info.
Melnyk told Süddeutsche Zeitung: "No one knew better than she how tense relations between Russia and Ukraine remained and that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin did not want an agreement but the destruction of my homeland."
The Ukrainian diplomat claimed that "the decision in favour of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea and against arms deliveries to Ukraine was made in Berlin in 2015,” tvp.info reported.
‘How it all went wrong’
Melnyk urged Merkel to comment on her Russia policy, according to tvp.info. "I think it would be important for Germany that Ms. Merkel speak out," he was quoted as saying.
“It's not about assigning blame - it's about understanding how it all went wrong,” he told Süddeutsche Zeitung, as cited by tvp.info.
Friday is day 51 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: tvp.info, sueddeutsche.de