Germany’s Merkel defends decision to get Russian natural gas

BERLIN (AP) — Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended decisions made during her tenure to buy natural gas from Russia. Speaking in Lisbon Thursday, Merkel said “you always act in the time you are in” and that she doesn’t regret decisions she made. She said that it was clear that Germany needed to diversify its energy supplies as it moved away from nuclear and coal-fueled power generation and that gas would be needed during that transitional period. Merkel said that “from the perspective of that time, it was very rational and understandable to get pipeline gas, including from Russia, that was cheaper than LNG from other parts of the world.”