Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking on the eve of a
NATO summit in Lithuania aimed at showing solidarity with
Ukraine while not yet accepting Kyiv as a member of the
alliance.
"You know the absolutely clear and consistent position of the
Russian Federation that Ukraine's membership in NATO will have
very, very negative consequences for the security architecture,
the already half-destroyed security architecture in Europe. And
it will be an absolute danger, a threat to our country, which
will require from us a sufficiently clear and firm reaction,"
Peskov told reporters.
Russia launched its war in Ukraine last year, something it calls
a "special military operation," after seeking and failing to
obtain what it called "security guarantees" from the West that
its neighbour would never be allowed to join NATO. The United
States said the demand was a "non-starter", and Ukraine should
be free to decide its own alliances.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has made clear that Kyiv
will not become a member while war rages, and that the Vilnius
summit will not issue a formal invitation.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Alexander Marrow and Mark
Trevelyan; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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