Despite the Russian media claiming that Ukraine’s NATO accession aspirations triggered the war, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has made it clear: it is not negotiating the halt of eastern enlargement – reported The Kyiv Independent.
According to the speakers, neither recently nor previously has it been seriously considered that the NATO would officially rule out further enlargement. One of them put it this way: “this can at best be a theoretical discussion”, and recalled that decisions require the full consensus of member states. Despite all this, Moscow’s latest peace conditions include a written Western guarantee that NATO will not expand further – this was also mentioned by Vladimir Putin in his statement on 28 May.
According to NATO diplomats, this demand is unrealistic. “This is not something they can simply obtain,” said one source, pointing out that several international agreements – such as the NATO founding treaty (1949), the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) or the Helsinki Final Act (1975) – stipulate that every state is free to decide which alliance it wishes to join. Similar principles are contained in the 1997 NATO–Russia Founding Act, which, although considered outdated by some, remains an officially valid document.
Although certain American politicians – including President Donald Trump and special envoy Keith Kellogg – have described Moscow’s NATO opposition as “understandable concern”, Ukraine has made it clear: it is not willing to abandon its NATO or EU accession aspirations for the sake of peace. The country officially submitted its accession application in September 2022, but has not received an invitation since, as full consensus has not been reached among the 32 member states.
