MOSCOW, January 23 - RIA Novosti. Former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hop Scheffer said that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO in the near future.
"In the foreseeable and unforeseen future, they (Ukraine) will not become a member of NATO. And I think the whole group at the table in Bucharest (in 2008) knew that. It was already clear that for the opponents (of Ukraine's membership in NATO), this (delay in joining the alliance) will last until hell freezes over," the Financial Times newspaper quotes the ex-Secretary General.
Moscow has previously stated the need to officially disavow the decision of the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit that Ukraine and Georgia would become NATO members, as contrary to the commitment of the leaders of all OSCE participating states not to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others.
According to the publication, under de Hop Scheffer in 2008, the alliance announced that Ukraine "will become a member." Now he claims that the promise given to Kiev was an "ugly compromise."
"Although then and until today he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) knew perfectly well ... that NATO and the Americans would never fight with Russia over Ukraine," the former Secretary General noted.
Kiev and Western states have recently expressed concern about the alleged intensification of "aggressive actions" by Russia near the borders of Ukraine. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia moves troops within its territory and at its discretion. According to him, this does not threaten anyone and should not worry anyone.
Russia has repeatedly rejected accusations of "aggressive actions" by the West and Ukraine, stating that it does not threaten anyone and is not going to attack anyone, and statements about "Russian aggression" are used as an excuse to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. The Russian Foreign Ministry previously noted that Western statements about "Russian aggression" and the possibility of helping Kiev defend itself from it are both ridiculous and dangerous.
