On Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said that U.S. President Joe Biden offered to delay Ukraine’s membership into NATO by 10 to 15 years during a 2021 summit in Geneva, Switzerland. Notably, Russia said Ukraine joining NATO is one of their red lines.
Putin made the statements while speaking with reporters following the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) in St. Petersburg, Russia.
“I know that the current President Biden spoke about this, it’s no secret, back in 2021. He proposed exactly this to me – to delay Ukraine’s admission into NATO by 10-15 years, because [Kiev] is not ready yet,” Putin said.
Putin also noted that a Ukrainian accession into NATO would be unacceptable to Russia regardless of a timeframe.
“U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine within hours of taking office. While he has declined to discuss any specifics of his proposal, U.S. media have cited several anonymous sources to speculate that this might involve ‘freezing’ the conflict along the current frontline, something both Moscow and Kiev publicly oppose,” RT said Thursday.
Putin’s statements of the years-old discussion come at a time when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been giving interviews and press conferences regarding the current state of the Ukraine conflict and potential nuclear escalations.
Notably, this week Biden approved the National Defense Authorization Act for 2025 which does not include funds to Ukraine following debates between Republicans and Democrats on the matter. Biden himself however recently authorized $1 billion for Ukraine and now wants a weapons surge to Ukraine. Donald Trump recently said that he will probably cut Ukraine aid following Zelensky rejecting a peace plan.
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