What you write about what Merkel says is simply not true, in the interview she insists several times that it was exactly to create conditions so that peace could prevail.
We can have long discussions about what other actors in this conflict intended to do or how to interpret various facts, but that is another topic all together.
Merkel contradicts herself in the interview. However, there is no other way to interpret the comment that she was playing for more time given what we know today. The actions of the west prior and after Minsk are very much part of the same topic because these actions tell us what the intent actually was and which of the statements made by Merkel are truthful.
What you write about what Merkel says is simply not true, in the interview she insists several times that it was exactly to create conditions so that peace could prevail.
We can have long discussions about what other actors in this conflict intended to do or how to interpret various facts, but that is another topic all together.
Merkel contradicts herself in the interview. However, there is no other way to interpret the comment that she was playing for more time given what we know today. The actions of the west prior and after Minsk are very much part of the same topic because these actions tell us what the intent actually was and which of the statements made by Merkel are truthful.