“Russia does not have the right to vote on Ukraine’s membership in NATO. It is a ‘red line’ that neither Ukraine nor our partners will cross,” Kuleba told RBK Ukraine.
“The collective West will not agree to give Russia legal guarantees that the alliance will not expand to the east, as this would be their strategic defeat,” the minister added.
Russia has concentrated a contingent of about 100,000 men on Ukraine’s borders, and the Kremlin has issued an ultimatum to the West demanding a halt to NATO’s further expansion to the east and the dismantling of the Alliance’s infrastructure in the so-called new member states until 27 May 1997. , that is, before the first enlargement of NATO.
This week, the West and Russia began talks over tensions around Ukraine, with Kiev and the West fearing that Russia might attack Ukraine.
The talks between Russia and the United States lasted more than seven hours in Geneva on Monday. No progress was made in the negotiations, but both sides agreed to continue negotiations.
The Kremlin said today that the talks had been a positive start to the dialogue, but said no results had been achieved.
The Geneva talks will be followed by a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels on 12 January and talks within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
