Zelensky revealed that in 2008, Merkel prevented Ukraine from joining NATO.

Ukraine could have initiated its NATO membership process as early as 2008, as desired by then-President of the United States George W. Bush. However, this move faced opposition from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

This was shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with American podcaster Lex Fridman while discussing security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelensky, after recounting how none of the signatory countries of the Budapest Memorandum responded to calls for assistance following the Russian invasion of Crimea and Donbas, recalled another story.

“2008, [the capital of Romania] Bucharest. Everyone is already aware of the Budapest Memorandum. Bush, the President of the United States, a Republican, states that Ukraine should be in NATO. This is the Republican stance. Check it: Ukraine should be in NATO. Everyone always looks to America. Everyone is in favor. Who is against? Merkel! So, she is against, and she pressured everyone to deny Ukraine an invitation to NATO – because it would have been a [significant] step. Republicans were in favor, America was in favor, because the Republicans and Bush feared no one. They knew: Ukraine rightly wants to join NATO; that is its choice,” said Zelensky.

“At that time, there was no ‘the Russians will react negatively.’ Because the ‘Russians’ were different,” he added.

Background. Recall that in the interview with Fridman, Zelensky stated that without Trump and the United States, NATO would simply cease to exist. The Ukrainian president mentioned that during World War II, without U.S. support, Hitler could have triumphed.

Zelensky also stated during the interview that he does not dismiss the idea of Ukraine joining NATO without the occupied territories. He identifies another strong security guarantee for Ukraine as a weapons package, “which Trump is aware of.”