“The truth is that Ukraine did not have a serious prospect of NATO membership in the near future,” Johnson said.
The alliance was prepared to respond to Russia's stated security concerns through negotiations, he said.
Earlier, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said that the NATO alliance deliberately refused to close the sky over Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would consider the decision of any country to introduce a no-fly zone over Ukraine as participation in a military conflict.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the alliance is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine.
Deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Grushko said that the issues arising between Russia and NATO must be resolved by political rather than military measures.