Ukraine and Russia never struck a provisional agreement on Kiev dropping its NATO aspirations, Dmitry Peskov told Reuters
Russian servicemen of the repair and restoration regiment check a T-72 tank after its repair in a field in the course of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. © Sputnik
Russian officials never sealed a deal with Ukraine that would have seen Kiev pledge to stay out of NATO, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, responding to a Reuters report.
The outlet claimed that at the beginning of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine in late February, Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff, managed to hammer out a provisional accord with Kiev that would see it walk back on its bid to join NATO.
According to the report, Kozak recommended to adopt the deal, but it was rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters’ sources said that the Russian leader made it clear that the concessions his aid had gained from Kiev did not go far enough.
Commenting on the Reuters story, Peskov said that it “has absolutely no relation to reality”. “No such thing ever happened. It is absolutely incorrect information,” he stressed.
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Over the years, Moscow has repeatedly sounded the alarm over NATO encroaching on Russia’s borders as the military alliance accepted new members from Eastern Europe. Ukraine’s potential accession to NATO and the deployment of Western troops and military hardware on its territory have been particularly contentious points for Moscow.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
