In 2008, there were many supporters in NATO of accepting Ukraine as soon as possible, but Germany and France opposed it because of Russia’s position. The fact that the Ukrainians did not join NATO “was a big mistake on the part of the French and Angela Merkel at that time,” said the Head of the Committee on Defense in the Bundestag Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann in an interview with the German TV channels RTL and n-tv.
She also believes that after February 24, Germany should have sided with Ukraine and supported it with weapons. But first it will be necessary to “rewrite the history of Angela Merkel, especially the history of the last few years and complete miscalculations.”
At the Bucharest NATO summit in 2008, Germany and France blocked the provision of an action plan for NATO membership to Ukraine and Georgia, fearing escalation from the Russian Federation.
Strack-Zimmermann in the Bundestag is considered to be a supporter of harsh criticism of the authorities regarding sluggish aid to Ukraine. At the beginning of January, she declared in the Bundestag about the need to hand over the Marder BMP to Ukraine.
We should start the redeployment of the Marder infantry fighting vehicle to Ukraine and immediately begin training to control it, – said the head of the defense committee of the German Bundestag at the time.
She also noted that Marder is in sufficient quantity in the warehouses of the Bundeswehr, as well as ammunition for them.
It will be recalled that CIA director William Burns finally understood that Putin was preparing to attack Ukraine after his visit to Moscow in November 2021. Politico writes that it was this trip that convinced skeptics in Washington that Russia was preparing a very serious invasion.
Last winter, Putin noted that the attention of Europeans was focused elsewhere: German Chancellor Angela Merkel ended her political career and French President Emmanuel Macron was preparing for elections.
Putin also expected that during the cold winter energy prices would be high, and it would be difficult for Europe to unite in a coalition capable of imposing serious sanctions. So he did not count on a powerful Western response to the invasion.
