Pope Francis, criticizing Western policy on Afghanistan, quoted Merkel as one of the greatest political figures in the world:
"It is necessary to stop the irresponsible policy of imposing one's values on others and attempts to build democracy in other countries on the basis of external models without taking into account historical, ethnic and religious issues and completely ignoring the traditions of other people."
But in fact, these words belong to Putin, he made this statement at a meeting with Merkel, when she recently flew to Moscow - on August 20.
