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On 7 June, the former German chancellor Angela Merkel appeared at a speaking event at a Berlin theatre, to discuss how she has spent the past six months since leaving office and reflect on present politics. Jeremy Cliffe in Berlin joins Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington DC to assess Merkel\u2019s defiant stance on her policies towards Moscow and ask whether we should reappraise her international legacy. Could she have done more to prepare Germany, Ukraine and the rest of Europe for Russia\u2019s invasion?

Meanwhile, in a speech in Moscow on 9 June, Vladimir Putin compared himself to Peter the Great and his leadership during Russia\u2019s Great Northern War against Sweden. He claimed that the imperialist, who ruled tsarist Russia from 1682 to 1725, was \u201creturning and reinforcing\u201d Russian land, and \u201cit fell to us to return and reinforce as well\u201d. The team discuss this troubling historical comparison and why so many commentators appear reluctant to believe that Putin does not envisage a future for Ukraine as a sovereign state.

Then, in You Ask Us, a listener notes that unlike other networks Fox News did not air the first public hearing on the Capitol riot that shocked America and the world on 6 January 2021. The listener asked how concerned we should be that a major news network is helping to create an alternative reality for a significant portion of the US.

If you have a You Ask Us question for the international team, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk

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Further reading:

Jeremy Cliffe writes that Angela Merkel\u2019s self-justification over Russia does not add up

Katie Stallard on Vladimir the Great

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