"Angela Merkel is on record saying that the negotiated Minsk peace agreement was a complete sham."
No she didn't. That is Russian propaganda. Show me the Zeit article. All your sources are astroturfed Russian propaganda.
Your globalresearch.ca link gives you away. Anyone doubting it can go to the globalresearch front page and draw their own conclusions. Its a conspiracy theory site.
I list a few articles to give a flavor of globalresearch's conspiracy bent:
The “Great Zero Carbon” Conspiracy and the WEF’s “Great Reset”
Towards a Failed State under Kiev Nazi Regime
The Asinine Insanity of the ‘Climate Change’/C02 Hoax: