Russia demanded on Tuesday that Nato renounce its commitment from 2008 to finally allow Ukraine to join the US-led military alliance. Additionally, they objected to the idea of NATO forces acting as peacekeepers under any peace agreement.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov described the discussions as creative, noting that there was mutual attention between the parties, after meeting with Saudi Arabia’s secretary of state Marco Rubio, US federal safety director Mike Waltz, and Middle East minister Steve Witkoff.
During the continuous meet, Russia’s foreign ministry clarified that merely denying Ukraine’s Nato account was inadequate. In response to a problem from Reuters, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, said,” A refusal to accept Kyiv into NATO is not sufficient now.”
She insisted Nato has formally withdraw the commitments made at the summit in Bucharest in 2008.
Lavrov and Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov reported that after speaking with US officials in Riyadh, they had stated that Russia held Nato account for Ukraine intolerable. They stressed President Putin’s placement that Nato’s growth and Ukraine’s possible inclusion poses immediate threats to Russian independence.
In response to US President Donald Trump’s demands for Western military self-reliance, Lavrov rejected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s idea to use English and other Nato troops as soldiers in Ukraine.
The US, which favored admitting Ukraine and Georgia, and anxious European allies like France and Germany came to terms with the 2008 Bucharest charter.
Despite receiving financial and military support from various members, Nato maintains its protective nature and rejects direct participation in the conflict. Russia continues to defend the battle against the objectives of NATO and Ukraine to join NATO.
Zakharova indicated Ukraine may revert to its 1990 independence charter, which established it as a natural, non-aligned, and nuclear-free position. In exchange for independence promises from Russia, the US, and Britain, Ukraine regained complete independence in 1991 and relinquished its atomic army in 1994.
