Biden administration denies promising Putin ‘moratorium’ on Ukraine's accession to NATO
A senior official in the U.S. presidential administration stated that U.S. President Joe Biden did not make any promises to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine's non-entry into NATO, according to a report by U.S. TV channel CNN on Feb. 22.
The official was responding to a statement made by Putin during a meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, broadcast on Feb. 21, where the Russian president claimed that Biden, in a conversation with him, allegedly did not rule out a moratorium on Ukraine's accession to the alliance.
The White House spokesperson stressed that the United States is still committed to NATO's open-door policy and the country's position has not changed. At the same time, as Biden said before, no one expects Ukraine to join the alliance anytime soon.
“The likelihood that Ukraine is going to join NATO in the near term is not very likely, based on how much more work they have to do in terms of democracy and a few other things going on there…,” the U.S. President said on Jan. 19, 2022.
At the end of December, Russia put forward demands for security guarantees to the U.S. and NATO, one of which is Ukraine's non-accession to the Alliance.
These demands were discussed with the Russian Federation in different formats. On Jan. 10, representatives of the Russian Federation and the United States held a bilateral meeting in Geneva, on Jan. 12 a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council took place in Brussels, and on Jan. 13 negotiations were held at the OSCE Permanent Council.
On Jan. 26, the United States and NATO sent Russia written responses regarding the Russian so-called "security guarantees,” in which they reiterated their support of NATO’s “open door” policy.
The U.S. response was coordinated with the Ukrainian side before the response was sent to Moscow, and Kyiv registered no objections.
The Russian foreign ministry accused the United States of not providing a constructive response to its “security guarantee” demands, saying that the United States had simply ignored Russian wording for a draft treaty and engaged in "cherry-picking points convenient for themselves."
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