Bundestag calls Merkel responsible for war in Ukraine due to blocking its NATO entry

Many EU members advocated Ukraine's early admission to NATO in 2008, while Germany and France refused out of consideration for russia.

Germany's Bundestag sees former Chancellor Merkel as partly responsible for the war of aggression, says Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Head of the Defence Committee in the Bundestag.

The Ukrainians not joining NATO "was a big mistake on the part of the French and Angela Merkel at that time."

Strack-Zimmermann also believes that Germany should have sided with Ukraine and supported it with weapons after russia's full-scale war. But it would be necessary to "rewrite the history of Angela Merkel, especially the history of the last few years and complete miscalculations."

Commenting on the prospects for the conflict, the head of the Bundestag Defence Committee suggested that it is unlikely to last as long as the First or Second World Wars.

At the same time, she added, russia's president putin had not counted on the broad and sustained support of Ukraine.