Russia Demands NATO Renounce 2008 Membership Pledge to Ukraine
MOSCOW, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Russia has called for NATO to retract its 2008 pledge to eventually grant Ukraine membership in the U.S.-led military alliance. Furthermore, it demands that Ukraine agree to a policy of neutrality, as stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Tuesday.
NATO membership for Ukraine is completely unacceptable to Russia, but simply rejecting Ukraine's NATO membership is no longer sufficient, Zakharova emphasized. "A mere refusal to allow Kyiv to join NATO is no longer enough," she said in response to a Reuters question. "The alliance must renounce the 2008 Bucharest declaration."
Zakharova warned that failing to do so would allow the issue to continue to create tension in Europe. She also stated that Ukraine should revert to the stance it held in its 1990 declaration of sovereignty, issued following the collapse of the Soviet Union. This declaration committed Ukraine to a policy of permanent neutrality, abstaining from military alliances and remaining nuclear-free.
"What Ukraine needs to do is return to the foundations of its own statehood and adhere to the letter and spirit of these agreements," Zakharova added. She further argued that NATO membership or Western military intervention under the guise of peacekeeping would not provide Ukraine with the security it needs.
At the NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008, the alliance declared that both Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join NATO, though without offering a specific timeline or plan. The declaration was seen as a compromise between the United States, which advocated for both countries’ membership, and France and Germany, which expressed concern that such an expansion would provoke Russia.
Russia has repeatedly cited NATO’s post-Soviet enlargement, particularly Ukraine’s aspirations to join, as a key reason for the ongoing war. NATO, however, rejects this claim, maintaining that it is a defensive alliance that has been assisting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion over the past three years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the U.S. has ignored Russia’s concerns about NATO expansion since the end of the Cold War, arguing that the alliance was created in 1949 to provide collective security for Western nations against the Soviet Union.
Reuters reported in November that Putin is open to discussing a peace agreement with Ukraine, particularly with former President Donald Trump, but insists that no major territorial concessions will be made. Additionally, Russia demands that Ukraine abandon its ambitions to join NATO.
Leave A Comment