Putin Says One Should Not Laugh At Kiev's NATO Membership Plans: There Are No Guarantees

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2021) Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that one should not laugh at Ukraine's plans to join NATO, since there are actually no guarantees that the country will not become a member state.

"As for the proposal related to Ukraine's NATO accession or membership action plan, I see comments by our columnists, I see the reaction of our media outlets and our politicians, they are all kind of chaffing [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, they say this is idle talk, this will not happen. But I have a different opinion ... There are formal limitations, but there are no guarantees that Ukraine will not become a NATO member state," the president told the Moscow.

Kremlin. Putin tv program.

"We must keep this [Ukraine's potential NATO membership] in mind and we must appropriately structure our security relations with our partners and close neighbors and with those who control foreign policy from the outside," Putin added.

Following a telephone conversation between Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden earlier this week, the Ukrainian presidential office initially reported that Biden had "highlighted... the importance of providing the Ukrainian state with a NATO Membership Action Plan." The White House, however, denied that Biden made such a remark.