NATO rejects Russian request for veto on possible Ukraine membership
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opposed any Russian interference on Friday, December 10, 2021.
© PASCAL ROSSIGNOL / REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday (December 10) opposed any Russian interference in relations between the Atlantic Alliance and Ukraine.
He refused to rule out a possible membership of Kiev, as demanded by Moscow.
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"
NATO's relationship with Ukraine can only be determined by the 30 members of the Alliance and Ukraine itself, and by no one else,
" said Jens Stoltenberg.
“
We cannot allow Moscow to attempt to reestablish a system where great powers like Russia have their spheres of influence within which they can control what countries do and what not. [...] We will not compromise on the right of each nation in Europe to choose its own destiny,
”he added.
Earlier this Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that NATO "
formally
"
withdraw
a 2008 decision opening the door to the accession of Ukraine and Georgia, which Moscow categorically opposes. .
During an interview on Tuesday, December 7 with his American counterpart Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Poutine called for “
legal guarantees
” excluding the possibility of Ukraine joining the Alliance.
However, no entry into NATO planned for Ukraine
Accusing the West of having betrayed their promise at the end of the Cold War not to expand NATO to the East, Moscow constantly recalls its red lines.
Russia stresses that Ukraine is getting dangerously close to it by deploying Turkish military drones, by reaffirming its ambition to join NATO and by calling for more Western weapons.
However, Washington and the Europeans have made it clear time and again that Ukrainian membership of the Atlantic Alliance is not on the cards.
Words that annoyed Kiev a lot.
“
President Biden has told me, and has said publicly, that it is not for the Americans, Russia or the Alliance members, but only Ukrainian citizens to make the choice to join the NATO,
”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview on national 1 + 1 television on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press conference in Kiev, November 26, 2021. © AFP - HANDOUT
“
Unfortunately, he omitted to add that the decision
[on Kiev's NATO membership]
does not
ultimately
belong
to Ukrainian citizens, but to all these countries that I have just named!
We want to continue our path towards NATO, but an invisible wall is blocking us
, ”he lamented.
A worrying Ukrainian situation for Europeans
For his part, Olaf Scholz expressed Friday in Brussels the “
deep concern
” of Germany vis-à-vis the Russian troops massed on the border with Ukraine, calling on the EU to “
maintain its firmness
” vis-à-vis Moscow.
The new German Chancellor and French President Emmanuel Macron, whom
he also met
earlier on Friday in Paris, have shown their willingness to continue Franco-German mediation in the Ukrainian crisis, an initiative described as a "
positive base
" by Olaf Scholz .
For seven years, this area has been torn by a war between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists.
This conflict has left more than 13,000 dead and its political settlement, provided for by the Minsk agreements of 2015, is at an impasse.
Russia is considered the main military and financial support of these rebels, despite its denials.
(With AFP)
► Also to listen: Decryption - Threat of Russian invasion: what is really going on in eastern Ukraine?
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Ukraine
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Volodymyr Zelensky