'Merkel mania' as hyperactive chancellor tackles Ukraine, Greece

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and France's President Francois Hollande smile after taking part in peace talks on resolving the Ukrainian crisis in Minsk, February 12, 2015. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

BERLIN (Reuters) - Kiev, Moscow, Munich, Washington, Ottawa, Minsk and Brussels -- all in a week's work for Angela Merkel, whose tireless efforts to broker peace in Ukraine and keep Greece in the euro zone won praise even from the chancellor's fiercest critics in Germany.

"I don't feel bad. And the week isn't even over. Tomorrow is a working day," Merkel said late on Thursday after negotiating for 16 hours to wrestle a ceasefire deal from Russia's Vladimir Putin before flying straight to Brussels to deal with the Greeks.