Political analyst rules out Russian agreement to NATO guarantee deal for Ukraine
Russia will not sign the conflict settlement agreement that contains a clause guaranteeing Ukraine 's accession to NATO. Political analyst and senior lecturer at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Russian Foreign Ministry Aleksey Zudin told Izvestiya on 20 February.
On that day, the NBC TV channel reported that the USA was considering the possibility of including a clause guaranteeing Ukraine's automatic accession to NATO in case Russia violates the agreement. The expert assessed the probability of its inclusion in the document as extremely low.
"The very fact that such a proposal appears and its discussion as a possible clause of the agreement simply makes it impossible for the Russian side to conclude an agreement in which this clause would be present," he said.
Zudin emphasized that the appearance of relevant media reports may be related to the European Union's (EU) fear of an imaginary threat from Russia. The clause on Ukraine's automatic inclusion in NATO may also be implemented if the behavior of the Russian Federation after the conclusion of the deal is regarded as its violation, the political scientist noted.
Andrei Koshkin, head of the department of political analysis and socio-psychological processes at the Plekhanov Russian Economic University and a military expert, said in a conversation with Izvestia that only Russia has a clear vision of the agreement.
"As of today, we know only Russia's demands related to the conflict resolution process in Ukraine. We do not know clear demands from Ukraine because they are constantly changing. <...> We do not know Europe's demands," he noted.
According to the military expert, the requirements of the new US administration also remain unclear.
On February 14, US President Donald Trump named one of the reasons for the launch of the special military operation (SMO) as the West's desire to pull Ukraine into NATO. According to the American president, Ukraine understood the unacceptability for Russia of the prospect of its accession to the North Atlantic Alliance before the start of the special operation.
At the time, Trump also agreed with the words of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth about the unrealistic nature of Ukraine's accession to NATO. He noted that this led to the escalation of the conflict.
On 18 February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly stressed that NATO expansion was a direct threat to Russia's interests and sovereignty.
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