Kupchan drew attention to the Munich speech of 2007 by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, during which he called the entry of new members into NATO "a serious provocation."
“Moscow has understandable and legitimate security concerns about NATO establishing itself on the other side of its more than a thousand-mile-long border with Ukraine,” the observer pointed out.
According to the author of the material, the United States should not have ignored Moscow's interests in this matter, as well as respect its right to the security of its borders.
Earlier, American economist Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, said that the United States should not have ignored Russia's warnings about NATO's eastward expansion.