“If Ukraine had received an invitation to NATO in 2008, the war would have started even earlier – Merkel November 25, 18:15 Share: Angela Merkel (Photo: REUTERS / Annegret Hilse) Russia’s war against Ukraine would have started earlier and probably would have been worse, if Kyiv had started the path to NATO membership in 2008, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes. She said this in an interview with the BBC published on Monday, 25”, — write on: ua.news
Angela Merkel (Photo: REUTERS/Annegret Hilse)
Russia’s war against Ukraine would have started earlier and probably would have been worse if Kyiv had started the path to NATO membership in 2008, according to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
She said this in an interview with the BBC, published on Monday, November 25.
“We would have seen a military conflict even earlier. It was absolutely clear to me that [російський диктатор Володимир] Putin would not stand by and watch as Ukraine joins NATO. And then Ukraine as a country would certainly not be as prepared as in February 2022,” Merkel said.
In a new book of memoirs, Merkel explained why she delayed Ukraine’s invitation to NATO
At the same time, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, believes that Merkel’s decision regarding NATO, supported by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is “a clear miscalculation that encouraged Russia,” writes the BBC.
Earlier, in an interview with the German newspaper Spiegel, Angela Merkel said that she was being blamed for Russia’s war against Ukraine, in particular because of her position at the NATO summit in 2008, when she did not allow Kyiv to receive an action plan for membership.
Angela Merkel was first elected to the Bundestag in 1990, and from 2000 to 2018 she headed the Christian Democratic Union party. She served as Chancellor of Germany for 16 years.
The White House wanted to publicly call for Ukraine to join NATO, but changed its mind — Bloomberg
During her tenure, Merkel was considered one of the most influential political figures in Europe and the world.
However, after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, her policy of appeasement of Russia, dependence on Russian gas and unwillingness to admit her own mistakes began to be sharply criticized.