MADRID, December 11. /TASS/. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012) has opined that Ukraine should remain a neutral country and aspire to become a bridge between Russia and Europe.

"Trying to defend Ukraine’s accession to NATO at all costs is a mistake," he noted in an interview with Spain’s El Mundo newspaper. "Ukraine’s vocation is to remain a neutral country, certainly, with very solid guarantees on the part of the international community, and to aspire to become again a bridge between Russia and Europe," the ex-French president said.

Sarkozy thinks that French leader Emmanuel Macron was right in trying to keep "the channel of communication open" with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "almost until the end." "Yes, he was right in attempting to maintain dialogue with President Putin, and I really regret that he did not go further in continuing this dialogue, as I did in 2008," the former French president concluded.