Former ambassador and Trump friend
Grenell blames Merkel for the war in Ukraine
February 25, 2024, 5:05 p.m
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Richard Grenell is ambassador to Germany under Trump until 2020. In an interview he claims that Trump was right in all of his prophecies. If former Chancellor Merkel had listened to him, the war in Ukraine would not have existed.
The former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, blamed former Chancellor Angela Merkel for the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. “Donald Trump had three main concerns that Germany did not want to fulfill,” said the former US president’s close confidante to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. These were the end of Nord Stream 2, higher defense spending and new sanctions on Iran. “History has shown that he was right in all three cases,” Grenell continued.
Nevertheless, he sees no excuse for this from Merkel or the current federal government. “If she had followed us, we wouldn’t have war in Ukraine or Gaza,” said the former ambassador with conviction. Grenell also denied in the interview that Trump wanted to weaken NATO. “President Trump is determined to strengthen NATO if it wants to be strong,” he said. However, it starts with “everyone making their fair contribution”.
Grenell: Russia and Ukraine must be forced to come to an agreement
Alliance members who spend less than 2 percent on defense “should lose the right to vote on some issues, such as the election of the NATO secretary general,” he suggested. Grenell rejected the Dutch politician Mark Rutte, who was favored by Germany, the current US government and other countries for this office. During Rutte’s time in government, the Netherlands “refused” to pay its fair share of NATO spending, he said. Grenell is calling for the decision on who will succeed current incumbent Jens Stoltenberg to be postponed until after the US presidential election.
Grenell called for an immediate peace plan for Ukraine. The governments in Kiev and Moscow should have the say. “Everything has to come from Ukraine and Russia,” said the former ambassador. However, he added: “But they won’t do it on their own. They have to be forced. Allies on both sides have to do it.”