Kremlin does not oppose Ukraine's accession to EU but NATO is "clear threat" to Putin

The Kremlin has said that Russia does not object to Ukraine's accession to the EU, but joining NATO is a "clear threat" to Russia.

As reported by Politico, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov are meeting in Saudi Arabia on 18 February with a US delegation represented by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Ambassador to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

When asked about Kyiv and Brussels officially opening negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU in June 2024, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that this was about "processes of economic integration".

"Here, of course, no one can dictate anything to another country, and we are not going to do that," he said.

Peskov noted that this position "does not apply to Ukraine's involvement in military alliances", as Ukraine's desire to be part of NATO "is seen as a clear threat in the eyes of Russian leader Vladimir Putin".

"Of course, our position on issues related to security, defense and military alliances is completely different. We have a different approach there, and everyone knows it," he added.

On 12 February, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that Ukraine regaining control over its entire territory was an unrealistic idea and that the US did not consider Ukraine's accession to NATO a realistic component of a peaceful settlement.

US President Donald Trump reiterated that he did not see any possibility of Ukraine joining NATO given Russia's position and blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for supposedly provoking Moscow into a full-scale war.

Later, the Trump administration stated that it did not rule out Ukraine's accession to NATO in the future.