Russia does not accept sending NATO troops to Kiev-controlled territory

The deployment of a military contingent of the NATO countries to the territory remaining under the control of Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable for Russia, Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said.

At a meeting of the UN Security Council, he said that in April 2022 in Istanbul, the Ukrainian negotiating team outlined the basic principles of an agreement on ending hostilities and ensuring sustainable regulation, including Kiev's refusal to join NATO or any other military blocs, and confirmation of Ukraine's neutral and nuclear-free status.

"In this context, the Ukrainian side proposed, and our delegation agreed, to develop security guarantees, which would include all permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as individual states that may be interested in joining this group of security guarantors. We supported this option, the document was initialed, and we were ready to sign an official agreement. We understand it now, and we are ready to consider it in contrast to various other discussed schemes, which in one way or another boil down to the fact that the remaining territory under the control of Ukraine will be occupied by the NATO countries, up to the deployment of military contingents there. This is absolutely unacceptable for Russia, as it is fraught with an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences," he said.