NATO Not Interested In Getting Into Conflict With Russia Over Ukraine - Trump's Aide

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2019) The accession of Ukraine to NATO is currently not on the agenda as the alliance is not interested in getting into conflict with Russia, US president's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien said on Saturday

O'Brien is taking part in the Halifax International Security Forum.

"As for Ukraine and NATO I do not think it is on the agenda right now. Russia is engaged in the active conflict with Ukraine. I do not think it would be appetizing to NATO as a whole to bring Ukraine in right now as a member of NATO ... [and be engaged] in conflict with Russia ... We do not want to be in conflict with Russia, we do not want to be at war with Russia. The whole idea of NATO was to prevent and deter a war against Russia," O'Brien said at a press conference when asked whether NATO should more actively protect Ukraine from Russia's "hostile" behavior.

At the same time, O'Brien reaffirmed that the United States would continue supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly said that it is not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict.

In February, Ukrainian parliament adopted amendments to the constitution, which enshrines the country's aspirations for EU and NATO membership. At the same time, European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn previously stated that it was unrealistic to talk about Ukraine's membership of the European Union in the coming years. He advised Kiev to concentrate on implementing the association agreement with the EU.

Ukraine canceled its non-aligned status after a power change in 2014 and confirmed its intention to join NATO. NATO officials have repeatedly said that the country needs to implement a wide range of reforms before pursuing membership in the alliance.