We need to get Angela Merkel back and send her to Moscow

The former German chancellor has unique qualities, and a shared history with Vladimir Putin unmatched by any other world leader. She should be persuaded to come out of retirement to help halt the Russian president's brutal war against Ukraine

Vladimir Putin presents flowers to Angela Merkel during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow last August. Picture: AP

AS A horrified world searches for a way to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine, there is one person who might be able to get through to the Kremlin’s dangerously isolated autocrat. 

Angela Merkel, until recently chancellor of Germany, held Putin to some degree of good behaviour during her 16 years in office, including by blocking his first attempt to seize Ukraine in 2014. Merkel has unique qualities, and a shared history with Putin unmatched by any other world leader.