Acceptance of Ukraine into NATO Would Mean the Alliance is Ready to Start a War with Russia - Pushkov

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently spoke about the prospects of Ukraine's membership in NATO, stating that no third country can veto NATO's membership decisions. “Ukraine has the right to determine its own foreign policy future, and we expect them to do so without outside interference,” he said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko declared yesterday that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would be “an extremely dangerous step and will have consequences.” “NATO is aware of our position regarding Ukraine,” the official stated.

The topic was continued today by Alexey Pushkov, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee on Information Policy in Russia. “NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg has once again stated that the alliance seeks to improve relations with the Russian Federation. It is hard to believe this, as there have been too many such statements and too many actions taken to destroy relations. However, they can worsen further and even become catastrophic if the alliance goes down the path of preparing Ukraine for NATO membership. The alliance must understand that accepting Ukraine into NATO would mean that it is ready to start a war with Russia,” Pushkov affirmed, according to Vzglyad.