Former Bush aide praised the final declaration of the NATO summit in The Hague

NATO does not refuse to expand, despite the absence of a provision in the alliance's final declaration on the alliance's commitment to an open-door policy. Thomas Graham, Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former special assistant to U.S. President George W. Bush for Russia and Eurasia, told Izvestia about this.

The block is with you: Moscow will demand NATO guarantees on Ukraine

There is no wording about the inevitability of Kiev's joining the alliance in the communique of its summit, but this is not enough for Russia.

"Consensus is needed to include this point in the declaration. The United States was against it. That's all. This does not mean that the position of other allies is changing," he said.

The NATO Summit in The Hague was held on June 24-25. Following the meeting, a declaration consisting of only five points was adopted.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Block therapy: following the summit, NATO did not mention expansion for the first time since the 1990s