Washington was willing to delay Kiev’s membership
US President Joe Biden offered to delay Ukraine’s membership in NATO during the 2021 summit in Geneva, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
Putin spoke with reporters on Thursday, after the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) in St. Petersburg. Asked about rumors from the US about a proposal that would freeze the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said such talk was nothing new.
“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, referring to the midsummer meeting he had with the US leader in Switzerland.
Kiev’s entry into the US-led military bloc was unacceptable to Moscow “whether it’s in one year or ten years,” the Russian president noted.
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