The US-led bloc set unrealistic preconditions for Kiev, according to Russia’s deputy foreign minister
Ukraine will never become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said, warning the US-led military bloc against repeating the same old mistakes.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated last week that “there is no membership issue to be discussed,” unless Kiev defeats Moscow on the battlefield. “We need to ensure that Ukraine prevail that’s an absolute minimum for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance,” he said.
“This means this will never happen,” Ryabkov told TASS on Tuesday. “I hope Mr. Stoltenberg understands this.”
The Russian diplomat said that Stoltenberg should know better what happened after NATO announced at its Bucharest summit in 2008 that Ukraine would become a member in the future.
“This became the trigger for much of the entire crisis that we are observing today. If NATO members are ready to fall into the same trap again and history teaches them nothing, then they will get hit again and their bruises will get worse,” he said, reiterating that Ukraine joining NATO is “ruled out.”
President Vladimir Putin has warned for nearly two decades that NATO’s policies undermine Russian national security. He signaled last week that Moscow could order a ceasefire and start negotiations as soon as Kiev completely withdraws its troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions. However, a lasting peace could only be achieved if Ukraine commits to neutral status and abandons plans to join NATO.
Both Kiev and NATO dismissed the offer as an unacceptable “ultimatum,” but the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, noted that Ukraine would be better off accepting Putin’s offer now. “The next terms under which a ceasefire can be achieved and some kind of peace agreement signed will be tougher with regard to Ukraine,” he warned.
