Pentagon: the Russian Federation does not have the right of veto on the accession of countries to NATO, the decision is made by the alliance

John Kirby. Photo: Lisa Ferdinando/ Globallookpress.com

The United States reiterated that Russia does not have the right to veto the accession of countries to NATO. According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, such decisions are made by the North Atlantic Alliance and a sovereign state intending to obtain membership, RIA Novosti reports.

The spokesman for the US Defense Department stressed that he would not speculate about NATO’s expansion to the east and Ukraine’s place in this process, but recalled that the right to make a decision remains with the alliance and Kiev.

A similar statement was made by White House spokesperson Jen Psaki. According to her, the United States intends to continue to defend the view that only the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has the right to decide who can join it.

The spokeswoman stressed the importance of diplomatic relations with Russia, but added that Washington would defend its own values, including its position on NATO.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a press conference following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said that once NATO promised Russia not to advance the alliance’s infrastructure to the east by an inch, but in the end they “threw and deceived” Moscow. The Head of State noted that the written responses received on January 26 from the United States and NATO are being carefully analyzed, but it is already clear that Russia’s fundamental concerns have been ignored.

US Ambassador John Sullivan handed over to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko a written response from the US authorities to the proposals on security guarantees on January 26. At the same time, a written response from NATO was handed over to the Russian Ambassador in Brussels.

On December 17, 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced draft agreements with NATO and the United States on security guarantees. The documents contain calls not to consider Moscow as an enemy and, in particular, to abandon the expansion of NATO to the east. Russia also suggested that the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance should not include Ukraine in the organization.