Washington's attempts to incorporate Ukraine into NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union were not prudent, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said on Friday.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-partisan US think tank, the 99-year-old veteran diplomat argued that Washington tried to indiscriminately include all former members of the Soviet bloc under its umbrella after the Berlin wall fell, and that the

"whole region between the center of Europe and Russian border became open to restructure. From the Russian point of view, the United States then attempted to integrate this whole region, without exception, into an American-led strategic system. This development basically removed Russia's historic safety belt. It was not a wise American policy to attempt to include Ukraine into NATO."

Kissinger does not believe, however, that this justifies attempts by Russian President Vladimir Putin to re-incorporate Ukraine into Moscow's sphere of influence by a "surprise attack."

Ukraine was warned multiple times, and in no uncertain terms, that continuing on its trajectory would incur consequences.

Kissinger said he does not know if it is possible to make peace with the Russian leader, but stressed that the West "must seek an opportunity for an arrangement that guarantees Ukrainian freedom" and keeps the country part of the European system.

Moreover, Kissinger opined that in a way, Russia has "already lost the war" because its capacity to threaten Europe with conventional attacks, which it had enjoyed for decades or even centuries, "has now been demonstrably overcome."

Despite that, the former secretary of state signaled that sooner or later, the West and Russia must engage in dialogue:

"Some dialogue, maybe on an unofficial level, maybe in an exploratory way is very important. In the nuclear environment, such an outcome is preferable to a 'battlefield decision'."

Arguing that Washington has rejected traditional diplomacy, in early August, Kissinger warned that the US had found itself

"at the edge of war with Russia and China on issues which we partly created, as it has been "seeking to convert or condemn their interlocutors rather than to penetrate their thinking."

Germany will do everything to avoid NATO becoming a direct party in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said. Her remarks came after Kiev requested to become an official member of the US-led military bloc.

"We have made it clear from day one that we have a responsibility to ensure that the war does not spread to other countries, that NATO does not itself become a party in the war. And that remains true today. We are doing everything we can to ensure that other countries and NATO are not drawn into this war.

"Berlin will continue to support Ukraine, including by [sending] heavy weapons, in its right to self-defense."

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said the decision on Ukraine's membership would ultimately be made jointly by all NATO members. "Germany will not do it alone," she stated.

Ukraine formally applied to join NATO on Friday. President Vladimir Zelensky argued that Kiev and the bloc's members are already "de facto allies" and asked for accelerated admission.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the bloc supports Ukraine's right to choose its alliances, but the issue of its membership will be decided by a consensus of all 30 existing member states.

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The severity of the damage to the undersea conduits now means that the bloc is "indefinitely deprived" of Russian gas via this route, Russian energy operator Gazprom stated on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Blinken boasted that the US is now "the leading supplier of [liquefied natural gas] to Europe." In addition to shipping its own fuel to Europe, Blinken said that the US is working with European leaders to find ways to "decrease demand" and "speed up the transition to renewables."

"It's a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy and thus to take away from [Russian President] Vladimir Putin the weaponization of energy as a means of advancing his imperial designs," Blinken declared.