Neutral status for Ukraine ‘fundamental’ to Russia – Putin

Moscow considers the presence of NATO on its doorstep a grave threat, the Russian president told African leaders

Neutral status for Ukraine ‘fundamental’ to Russia – Putin
28 Jul, 2023 23:49 HomeRussia & FSU

Neutral status for Ukraine ‘fundamental’ to Russia – Putin

Moscow can’t accept having a hostile military bloc on its doorstep, the Russian president said

Kiev becoming a member of NATO is an existential threat to Russian national security and will not be tolerated, Russian President Vladimir Putin told representatives of several African countries on Friday.

In the document that ushered in Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, “it is written in black and white that Ukraine is a neutral state,” Putin reminded the visiting African leaders, during the public part of their meeting in St. Petersburg. The president was referring to the 1990 declaration proclaiming Soviet Ukraine a sovereign state that would strive to become “a permanently neutral country.”  

“This is of fundamental importance. Why the West began to drag Ukraine into NATO is not very clear to us. But this created, in our opinion, a fundamental threat to our security,” Putin added.

We cannot accept the advance towards our borders of military infrastructure of a bloc that is de facto hostile to us.

While Russia has always said it is ready to negotiate an end to hostilities, Kiev has passed a law prohibiting talks with Moscow and reneged on the agreement negotiated in March 2022 in Istanbul, Putin stated. 

“thrown out” shortly afterward, the Russian leader said earlier this year.

Ukrainian officials walked away from negotiations after accusing the Russian military of atrocities in Bucha and other areas around the country’s capital. Moscow had denied that its troops were killing civilians.

Kiev later argued that meaningful negotiations cannot commence until Moscow surrenders Crimea and four other territories that voted to leave Ukraine and become parts of Russia. Moscow repeatedly stressed that it was impossible. 

“anti-constitutional, armed, bloody coup” in Kiev, carried out with “active support” of the US and other Western governments.

play for time by the West to arm Ukraine for a war against Russia. Former president of France, Francois Hollande, seconded Merkel’s interpretation.

As part of the African Peace Initiative, leaders of seven countries from the continent visited Ukraine and Russia in mid-June. Though Moscow expressed interest in exploring the African proposal further, Kiev has insisted that only its “peace formula” – a ten-point plan amounting to Russia’s unconditional surrender – would be acceptable to Ukraine.