“It’s a fair concern. We’ve said that repeatedly. We’ve said that, to us, Ukraine coming into NATO is not on the table,” Kellogg told ABC News on Thursday.
Putin reportedly demands that a peace deal with Ukraine include a written pledge to halt NATO’s expansion, according to Reuters. Peskov, talking to journalists, agreed that Kellogg’s remark can be considered an outcome of backdoor Russia-U.S. talks.
This would impact not only Ukraine, which has repeatedly affirmed its aspiration to join the transatlantic military alliance, but also countries such as Georgia and Moldova, Kellogg acknowledged.
“And that’s one of the issues Russia will bring up … They’re also talking about Georgia, they’re talking about Moldova, they’re talking — obviously — about Ukraine. And we’re saying, ‘OK, let’s address this comprehensively,’” Kellogg said.
Following Kellogg’s remarks, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský wrote on X: “NATO expansion is in the interest of Russian security. There is no war where Russia borders NATO countries. There is war elsewhere.”
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine prompted both Sweden and Finland to seek — and ultimately obtain — membership in NATO.
Czech President Petr Pavel told POLITICO last week, “frankly it’s not realistic, in a short timeframe” for Ukraine to be invited to join NATO in the face of the Trump administration’s opposition. Still, he stressed that allies should “not abandon this idea,” as Kyiv joining NATO would strengthen it.
The Ukrainian government did not respond to Kellogg’s statement as of Friday afternoon.
