**Merkel Says Putin Sees Soviet Collapse as Greatest Disaster**
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken out about her views on Vladimir Putin’s actions. In an interview with Spiegel, she said that Putin considers the collapse of the USSR to be the greatest disaster.
Merkel warned back in 2008 that Putin would try to control other former Soviet republics by fomenting conflicts. She was right, as Putin invaded Georgia in 2008.
**Putin’s Motivations**
Merkel believes that Putin sees the collapse of the Soviet Union as a major catastrophe and thinks it threatens Russia‘s existence. He tries to keep other former Soviet republics under control through conflict, she said.
**NATO Summit in Bucharest**
At a NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, Merkel disagreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the importance of that meeting. Zelenskyy thought that Germany and France should be held responsible for the casualties in Bucha due to their actions at the summit.
Merkel said she was impressed by Zelenskyy’s bravery during the war, but disagreed with him on this point. She had warned about Putin’s intentions back in 2008 and thinks it’s true that she is being made a scapegoat for the Russia-Ukraine war.
**Strengthening Defense**
Merkel admitted that Germany did not do enough to strengthen its defense against Russia after her warnings. In 2014, NATO set a goal for countries to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, but it was not carried out with enough energy, she said.
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