MOSCOW, Oct 21 - RIA Novosti. Ukraine's accession to NATO would be an extremely dangerous step, it would force Moscow to react, the alliance is warned of possible consequences, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, commenting on the prospects of Ukraine's membership in the alliance, said that third countries do not have the right to veto Ukraine's entry into NATO, while Washington supports Kiev in its aspirations.
Commenting on Austin's words, Rudenko noted that this is not the first time such assessments have been made by representatives of the alliance member countries, and in general this approach is reflected in the statutory documents.
"Since these are negotiations between NATO and Ukraine, it's up to them to decide when and what is needed, but we kind of warned them, any step will have consequences. NATO knows our position on Ukraine," the senior diplomat said.