Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. REUTERS\/Yves Herman\/File Photo<\/p>\n
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister<\/p>\n
MOSCOW, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Ukraine's ongoing ambitions to join the Western NATO military alliance presented a threat to Russia's security and highlighted the necessity for Russia to conduct what it calls a \"special military operation\" in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Moscow was responding to the publication of a draft set of security guarantees by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office on Tuesday that outlined Ukraine's \"aspiration to join NATO and benefit from its mutual defence arrangements\".<\/p>\n
In a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia viewed the document negatively, saying the idea of Ukraine joining NATO was \"the main threat to Russia\":<\/p>\n
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister<\/p>\n
\"It once again emphasises the relevance and urgent need for us to ensure our own security and our own national interests.\"<\/p>\n
Before Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine in February, Moscow was demanding legally binding guarantees that Ukraine would never be admitted to the U.S.-led transatlantic defence alliance.<\/p>\n
Kyiv and the West say Moscow used this as a pretext, among others, to launch a pre-planned military campaign against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The nine-page document published on Tuesday, a package of recommendations on \"international security guarantees for Ukraine\", was prepared by former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskiy's presidential administration.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Zelenskiy said the package - which called for Western countries to provide \"political, financial, military and diplomatic resources\" to boost Kyiv's ability to defend itself in the years before it joins the NATO alliance - should form the basis of a new security settlement for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The proposal triggered outrage in Moscow, which saw it as reinforcing Kyiv's determination to join NATO and a strategy that could pave the way for the deployment of more Western weaponry near its borders.<\/p>\n
Peskov on Wednesday also criticised Kyiv's use of Western support to guarantee its security, saying Zelenskiy could boost Ukraine's security by giving in to unspecified Russian demands right away.<\/p>\n
\"The leadership of Ukraine must take actions that eliminate the threat to Russia, and they know perfectly well what those actions must be,\" he said, without providing details.<\/p>\n
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister<\/p>\n
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Tomasz Janowski<\/p>\n
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rest is here: Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. REUTERS\/Yves Herman\/File Photo Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister MOSCOW, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Ukraine's ongoing ambitions to join the Western NATO military alliance presented a threat to Russia's security and highlighted the necessity for Russia to conduct what it calls a \"special military operation\" in Ukraine. Continue reading
\nKremlin says Ukraine's NATO ambitions remain a threat to Russia - Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"