I'm not quick to believe Merkel speaks the incontrovertible truth either. She is however the second non-Russian Minsk signatory to say the West was trying to "dupe" Russia.
To be fair: In the original German, what Merkel said wasn't even close to that blunt.
It is also (IMO) not in in Merkel's long term interest to say that she signed Minsk just to buy time for Ukraine to get ready for war. It seriously diminishes her legacy as a leader and diplomat.
It also doesn't fit with other things she said in her interview in "Die Zeit," particularly regarding Russian gas and Nordstream II, where she was much more pragmatic and to my mind believable in her (at the time) political calculations.
I disagree with what Merkel's error was. IMO she misjudged how much the US would not tolerate Germany and Russia cooperating rather than being major adversaries and what the US really felt about NATO and Germany.
"The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated the organization’s goal was 'to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down'."
The US / UK blowing up Nordstream II and destroying billions in German investment makes it clear that the US wasn't going to tolerate any backsliding on Russian gas sanctions.
It is too early to tell if the US overplayed its hand there.
