Kremlin says US position on ruling out Nato membership for Ukraine gives satisfaction
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Ukrainian membership of Nato would pose a threat to the national interests of Russia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW - The Kremlin said on April 21 that the position of US President Donald Trump’s administration on ruling out Nato membership for Ukraine gave Moscow satisfaction, but declined to comment on Mr Trump’s hopes for a deal this week.
Mr Trump, seeking to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly said he wants to end the “bloodbath” of the three-year conflict in Ukraine
US envoy General Keith Kellogg said on April 20 that Nato membership was “off the table” for Ukraine.
Mr Trump has said past US support for that was a cause of the war.
“We have heard from Washington at various levels that Ukraine’s membership in Nato is excluded,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Of course, this is something that causes our satisfaction and coincides with our position.”
Ukrainian membership of the US-led alliance would threaten Russian interests, Mr Peskov added. “And, in fact, this is one of the root causes of this conflict.”
President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine
Former US President Joe Biden, Western European leaders and Ukraine cast the invasion as an imperial-style land grab and repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces.
Mr Putin casts the war as a watershed moment in Moscow’s relations with the West which he says humiliated Russia after the Soviet Union fell in 1991 by enlarging Nato and encroaching on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of influence.
At the 2008 Bucharest summit, Nato leaders agreed that Ukraine and Georgia would one day become members.
Ukraine in 2019 amended its Constitution committing to the path of full membership of Nato and the European Union.
Mr Putin has repeatedly said that Russia would be willing to end the war if Ukraine officially dropped its Nato ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.
Reuters reported in November that Mr Putin was ready to negotiate a deal with Mr Trump, but would refuse to make major territorial concessions and would insist Kyiv abandon ambitions to join Nato.
Mr Trump said on April 20 he hopes Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week to end the conflict in Ukraine.
The Russian rouble traded close to 80 to the US dollar on April 21, the highest level against the dollar since June 2024.
The rouble has risen by over 40 per cent against the dollar since the beginning of 2025 on expectations of peace.
Asked about those remarks, Mr Peskov said: “I don’t want to make any comments right now, especially about the time frame.”
“President Putin and the Russian side remain open to seeking a peaceful settlement. We are continuing to work with the American side and, of course, we hope that this work will yield results,” Mr Peskov said.
He refused to comment directly on a Bloomberg report that the United States is prepared to recognise Russian control of Crimea as part of a broader peace agreement.
“Work on finding a peaceful settlement cannot take place, and should not take place, in public,” Mr Peskov said. “It should take place in an absolutely discrete mode.” REUTERS
