Results of NATO summit in Madrid should outline prospects for Ukraine's possible membership – Kuleba
The results of the NATO summit in Madrid on June 29 and 30, 2022 should outline the prospects for Ukraine's possible membership in the Alliance, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
"In our opinion, the outcome of the NATO summit in Madrid should not only outline the allies' response to new challenges and threats, but also establish guidelines that can help them implement the decisions of the Bucharest summit regarding Ukraine's possible membership," Kuleba said at a press conference following a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of foreign ministers of NATO member states in Riga on Wednesday.
He said that Russia cannot prevent Ukraine from moving closer to NATO, and does not have the right to vote in the relevant discussions.
"Any proposals of Russia to discuss with NATO, the United States or any other country any so-called guarantees that the Alliance will not expand to the east are illegal," the minister said.
Kuleba said the best guarantee of security for Russia would be the withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine, an end to aggression against Ukraine, and thus normalization of relations with the West, instead of dragging Europe back into the Cold War and spheres of influence."
"These times are long gone, and there is no turning back," the foreign minister said.