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Ukraine was never promised NATO membership as part of any potential settlement of its conflict with Russia, the military bloc’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, has said. He made the remarks in an interview with the broadcaster MI Ukraina while on a surprise trip to Ukraine on Tuesday.
Rutte said that while Kiev’s Western backers have stated Ukraine would “one day” become a member of NATO, “no one promised Ukraine that NATO membership would be part of the peace agreement.”
Russia has long cited Kiev’s ambitions to join NATO, which Moscow views as an overtly hostile bloc, as one of the reasons for launching its military operation in 2022.
Ukrainian neutrality remains a key demand from the Kremlin for reaching a peace deal, along with demilitarization, denazification, and recognition of the territorial realities on the ground. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, however, has insisted that membership or “NATO-like security guarantees” be included in any agreement.
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