Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again accused former Chancellor Angela Merkel of preventing Ukraine from joining NATO. In the decisions at the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, Merkel and then French President Nicolas Sarkozy allowed themselves to be influenced by Russia. According to his presidential office, Zelenskyj said that during a visit to Bucha, where hundreds of civilians had been found murdered.
The day before, Selenskyj had asked Merkel to visit Bucha to see the disaster with her own eyes. Merkel then had a spokeswoman say that she stood by her decisions in connection with the 2008 NATO summit and at the same time emphasized that she supported efforts to end Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine.
“I think she understood my signal very well”, said Selenskyj now. At the Bucharest summit, many NATO members saw Ukraine as a possible new member. Other heads of state and government – “and I believe that Angela was one of those leaders” – were against it, Zelenskyj said. In doing so, she strengthened the feeling in Russia that she could influence the European Union.