Merkel said she stands by her 2008 decision to block Ukraine's NATO bid after Zelenskyy blamed her for war atrocities

• Ukraine's president condemned European leaders for blocking his country's NATO bid in 2008.
• A spokesperson for Angela Merkel said she "stands by" her decision, Deutsche Welle reported.

A spokesperson for former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she stands by her 2008 decision to block Ukraine's NATO bid after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said she was responsible for war atrocities.

During an address to the nation on Sunday, Zelenskyy invited Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president of France, to the destroyed town of Bucha to "see what the policy of 14 years of concessions to Russia has led to."

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of killing 300 civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, with Zelenskyy saying the true death toll was likely higher. Ukraine and the US said Russian forces had carried out war crimes.

Zelenskyy suggested that their decision not to admit Ukraine to NATO during a summit in Bucharest, Romania, in 2008 was a clear "miscalculation" that resulted in war atrocities.

A spokesperson for Merkel responded to the criticism on Monday, saying the former German leader "stands by her decisions in relation to the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest," Deutsche Welle reported.

"In view of the atrocities uncovered in Bucha and other places in Ukraine, all efforts by the government and the international community to stand by Ukraine's side and to bring an end to Russia's barbarism and war against Ukraine have the former chancellor's full support," the spokesperson added, according to Deutsche Welle.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelenskyy, slammed Merkel's response, saying it "indicates that Western elites are still under dangerous delusions" over the war in Ukraine, The Telegraph reported.

Sarkozy's office has not yet responded to Zelenskyy's comments.

During the 2008 summit, NATO leaders discussed requests by Ukraine and Georgia to join the Membership Action Plan (MAP), which is required for any country that wants to qualify for NATO membership.

Though the US was strongly in favor of admitting Ukraine to the MAP, Germany and France argued that such a step would agitate Russia. Ultimately, NATO did not take any immediate action, and Ukraine is not a member of NATO.

Germany has come under increasing pressure to ban Russian energy imports following reports and images of mass graves and civilians dead in the street in Bucha over the weekend.

Merkel left politics late last year after serving four terms as chancellor. During her tenure, she was widely seen as a stabilizing figure in Europe, though the war in Ukraine has led some to reassess her legacy.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said this week: "It is precisely Germany's policy over the past 10, 15 years that has led to Russia's strength today, which is based on its monopoly on the sale of raw materials," Deutsche Welle reported.