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Ex-German chancellor never expected Russia to tolerate Ukraine’s NATO membership — memoir

Angela Merkel added that another fallacy was the belief that the status "would act as a deterrent," and that Moscow "would accept these developments without taking action"

BERLIN, November 21. /TASS/. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (who served as chancellor from 2005 to 2021) acknowledged in her memoir that she opposed granting NATO candidate status to Ukraine as early as 2008.

The Die Zeit newspaper, which received an exclusive pre-release copy of excerpts from the book, has published key sections.

"In my opinion, it was a misguided expectation to think that the Membership Action Plan would guarantee Ukraine and Georgia’s protection," the ex-chancellor writes. She added that another fallacy was the belief that the status "would act as a deterrent," and that Moscow "would accept these developments without taking action."

Merkel also remembers seeking counsel from Pope Francis in 2017 on how to manage her interactions with Donald Trump. "Bend, bend, bend, but make sure it doesn’t break," the pontiff advised. Merkel revealed that she found this advice particularly insightful. She also expressed surprise when Trump informed her during a phone call in 2017 that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement.

During the latest US presidential election, Merkel expressed full support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Merkel is set to launch her memoir, Freedom: Memories 1954-2021, in Berlin on November 26. She collaborated on the book with her long-standing assistant Beate Baumann. In the memoir, Merkel reflects on her early years in East Germany, her education in the former German Democratic Republic, her ascent to the chancellorship in 2005, and the 2008 NATO Summit, where she vehemently opposed Ukraine’s NATO membership. The book also explores her personal perspective on Russian President Vladimir Putin, her first encounter with Trump, and numerous other defining moments throughout her political career.

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