Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia is demanding that NATO cancel its decision to accept Ukraine and Georgia as potential candidates for membership in the alliance.

Ryabkov added that Russia needs to put an end to NATO’s expansion and prevent Ukraine from becoming a member of the alliance.

“We must put an end to the advancement of NATO, NATO infrastructure, and NATO capabilities further east. We must exclude Ukraine from joining NATO,” he said.

“We’re saying absolutely firmly that we demand an official withdrawal of the decision of the Bucharest summit. From 2008, that Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members,” Sergey Ryabkov said, as quoted by Sputnik news agency.

“We’re saying that further expansion of NATO should be ruled out in principle,” the diplomat added.

According to him, all the activities of the alliance “must be rolled back to the positions that existed at the time of the signing of the Russia-NATO fundamental act”.

Moscow’s goal is to agree on security guarantees with the United States and NATO based on Russian proposals, Ryabkov has said.

“We can no longer postpone, let’s deal with this serious issue … here and now,” Ryabkov said in an interview with the Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn magazine, published on Monday.

The diplomat also said that Moscow still awaits Washington’s response on when they are ready for bilateral talks.

Source: Agencies