Moscow wants the US to agree not to let Kiev into NATO
If Washington wants to do a deal with Moscow over security guarantees in Europe, it must agree to make a binding commitment that it will never allow Ukraine to become a part of NATO, Russia has insisted.
Speaking to a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov rejected the idea that a short-term moratorium on Ukraine’s accession would be acceptable, stating that Moscow would only be happy with Washington’s promise to unilaterally put an end to Kiev’s aspirations.
Last year, Russia proposed a draft treaty to the US, which included other security guarantees like a commitment to reduce military exercises in Eastern Europe and a ban on placing missiles near the country’s frontier. The text also included a call for the Americans to commit to ruling out NATO expansion in countries that used to be republics of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine.
According to NATO rules, every new member state must be unanimously approved by all countries that already belong to the US-led bloc, so one country’s agreement would be enough to end Kiev’s hopes.
“This well-known formula of the 2008 Bucharest summit, which agreed that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO, must be removed. It has to be replaced with an understanding that this will never happen,” Ryabkov said, referring to the meeting in Romania, where the US-led bloc came to the decision that the two former Soviet republics would eventually join.
“Or alternatively, the US could make a legally binding unilateral commitment that it will never vote for Ukraine and other countries to join NATO. We are ready to consider that option,” he said.
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