NATO will not make official decisions on non-expansion of the Alliance - MP Chernev
The North Atlantic Alliance will not make official decisions on non-expansion, the head of the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Yegor Chernev (Servant of the People faction), has said.
"It is very unlikely that Kellogg's statement will have any consequences and affect the course of the peace process. After all, as is clear from his statements, the United States is ready to give Russia oral promises that will not have legally binding force. On the other hand, the Kremlin itself has always emphasized that it needs written guarantees in the form of official international legally binding documents. And no one will give it such guarantees," Chernev said in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Friday.
According to the MP, firstly, making such a decision would contradict the NATO Charter and the decisions of previous summits.
"Secondly, this would mean the official recognition of Russia's veto right to decision-making by the Alliance. Thirdly, such a decision could not be made by NATO itself due to the position of many countries that unconditionally support us on the path to accession. Therefore, no official NATO decisions on this matter will be made, and Ukraine will continue to participate in integration programs and achieve full compatibility with the Alliance," Chernev said.
He noted that Vladimir Putin can be satisfied with verbal guarantees and promises only if he desperately needs a respite for several years to accumulate strength for another war.
"In this case, he will go to a truce knowing clearly that it will be temporary," Chernev concluded.
As reported, the US President's special envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, stated that the issue of non-expansion of NATO, including Ukraine, has been repeatedly discussed and is a matter of concern for Russia.
"Well, I think that's a fair concern, and we've talked about it many times. As we've said, for us, Ukraine being a member of NATO is not on the table. And we're not the only country that's saying that," he said, answering a question about whether US President Donald Trump was ready to make a written commitment to the Russian president that NATO would not expand.
Trump's special representative added that Russia is raising issues not only with Ukraine: "They're talking about the country of Georgia. They're talking about Moldova. They're talking about Ukraine, obviously. And we're saying, well, comprehensively, you know, we can stop NATO expansion coming to your border. These are security issues for them," Kellogg said.
At the same time, he stressed that the decision on this issue should be made personally by the US president.
