Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger does not see Vladimir Putin as the sole culprit for the war in Ukraine. “I don’t think that all the blame lies with Putin,” Kissinger said in an interview with the “Time“. Although the conduct of the war was “extremely reckless”, he had already “expressed serious doubts about the requirements” in 2014 to invite Ukraine to join NATO.

Kissinger: Putin “overreached” himself with the Ukraine war

This does not justify the war and he supports the Ukrainian resistance. Nevertheless, Kissinger considers the invitation to Ukraine to be “not wise”. Kissinger believes that Putin has “overreached himself”. “For him, Ukraine is a symbol of Russia’s humiliation.” According to the ex-US Secretary of State, Putin no longer felt that he was being taken seriously.

Kissinger considers morality and guilt to be difficult categories in evaluating political action. When asked if he was at fault, Kissinger replied, “Look, we could have a long talk just about morality and human action.”

However, the dilemma of every statesman is that he has to work on long-term solutions in a limited period of time. “If he insists on absolute principles at every moment, he will overwhelm the possibilities of a society and radicalize it. If he is not ready to challenge society, he will not be able to prepare it for the future,” Kissinger said. “Dealing with this dilemma, finding the right balance is difficult.”