Germany’s Merkel recalls Putin’s ‘power games’ and contrasting US presidents in her memoirs

Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalls Vladimir Putin’s “power games” over the years, remembers contrasting meetings with Barack Obama and Donald Trump and says she asked herself whether she could have done more to prevent Brexit. Merkel’s memoirs, titled “Freedom,” are being published Tuesday. The 70-year-old appears to have no significant doubts about the major decisions of her 16 years as German leader, whose major challenges included the global financial crisis, Europe’s debt crisis, the 2015-16 influx of refugees and the COVID-19 pandemic. Merkel served alongside four U.S. presidents, four French presidents and five British prime ministers. But it is perhaps her dealings with Russian President Putin that have drawn the most scrutiny since she left office in late 2021.