Former German chancellor Angela Merkel once again defended her 2008 decision to impede Kiev from joining NATO, insisting that Moscow would perceive the move as an open “declaration of war.” Speaking from a Berlin theater stage on Tuesday, she claimed that a failed German-brokered peace initiative “bought” Ukraine a lot of time to prepare politically and militarily to confront Russia.
“I don’t have to blame myself for not trying hard enough,” Merkel said in her first major public appearance since stepping down last year. “Diplomacy isn’t wrong just because it hasn’t worked.”
The US-led military bloc formally acknowledged Ukraine’s and Georgia’s NATO aspirations in the 2008 Bucharest Summit Declaration, agreeing the two countries would eventually become members of the alliance, yet did not actually put such plans in motion due to objections by France and Germany.