He mentioned: “To NATO’s nice shock, France and Germany in 2008 blocked a Membership Motion Plan for Georgia, warning that Russia would interpret it as an existential menace.
“However 4 months later, Russia invaded Georgia anyway.
“In 2014-2015, when the US needed to arm Ukraine over Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Merkel and [then French president François] Hollande opposed such a method, as a substitute investing in diplomatic efforts.
“However within the shadow of such seeming diplomatic successes, Russia continued to construct up its army menace.”