Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the German government not to repeat former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mistakes in preventing Ukraine from joining NATO.
Source: Kuleba in an interview with Bild
Quote from Kuleba: “Do not repeat Chancellor Merkel’s mistake in Bucharest in 2008, when she fiercely opposed any move towards Ukraine’s NATO membership.”
Details: According to Kuleba, the Alliance’s decision at the time “opened the door for Putin’s invasion of Georgia and, ultimately, the illegal annexation of Crimea.” If Ukraine had already been a member of NATO in 2014, the annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbass and the invasion of the whole country would not have happened.
However, according to Kuleba, kyiv does not expect NATO membership during the war.
“But after the war, it would be suicide for Europe not to accept Ukraine as a member of NATO,” he said.
“The only way to close the doors of Russian aggression against Europe and the entire Europe-Atlantic area is to accept Ukraine into NATO,” the minister stressed.
He explained that Russia will no longer dare to attack Ukraine when it becomes a member of NATO. And then Ukraine will free Germany and other Western NATO countries from the burden of protecting its eastern flank.
“We will take this burden on our shoulders,” Kuleba said.
Background:
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At the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, Germany and France blocked the delivery of an action plan for Ukraine and Georgia’s NATO membership, fearing an escalation of the part of Russia. Since then, the Alliance has only promised these two countries “one day” entry.
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After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Merkel refused to admit that her decision could have led to Russian aggression.
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In May 2023, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that whatever the decision of the Alliance summit in 2008, where Ukraine did not receive a Membership Action Plan , Russia’s attack on Ukraine is an unwarranted violation of international law.
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