Iran Press/ Europe: Ukraine has pursued membership of the European Union and NATO, both opposed by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited Ukraine’s potential membership in NATO as evidence of NATO aggression toward Russia.
“The response that we are getting from the NATO countries is that they are not ready to even discuss having us in NATO, not for the next period of five or 10 years,” negotiator David Arakhamia said in remarks published on the Fox News website late on Saturday.
“We are ready to discuss some non-NATO models. For example, there could be direct guarantees by different countries like the U.S., China, the UK, maybe Germany, and France. We are open to discussing such things in a broader circle, not only in bilateral discussions with Russia but also with other partners,” said Arakhamia, implicitly reaffirming Ukraine's willingness to give up NATO membership.
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia will hold the third round of talks tomorrow, Arakhamia said on his official Facebook account.
"The third round of negotiations will take place on Monday," Arakhamia said without providing additional details.
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