NATO will not compromise on Ukraine's course. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reports UNN.
"We will not compromise on Ukraine's ability to choose its path, on NATO's ability to defend all NATO countries and on the fact that NATO has a partnership with Ukraine," said the Secretary General.
He recalled that only 30 Allies of the Alliance have the right to make decisions according to close cooperation with Ukraine.
"Our partnership with Ukraine is defensive in nature. It is in no way a threat to Russia. We saw the threat precisely from Russia when Russia both annexed Crimea in 2014 and continues to destabilize Ukraine," Stoltenberg added.
As a reminder, Ukrainian authorities and Western partners have recently drawn attention to Russia's aggravation of the security situation in Donbass, the build-up of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine, the danger of a new Russian invasion and increased Russian disinformation.
Putin's main demand is for guarantees from the United States and its allies that NATO will not expand further east and deploy weapons systems that Russia considers a threat there.
Against this backdrop, Russian and U.S. presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden held bilateral talks via video link on Dec. 7 that lasted two hours.
As U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a briefing following the talks between Putin and Biden, Joe Biden did not make concessions to Vladimir Putin regarding guarantees not to allow Ukraine to join NATO.
