Russian Foreign Minister: "Ukraine's NATO Membership Could Lead to Large-Scale Conflict in Europe"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jung] Amid escalating military tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian government has defended its actions as defensive measures against Ukraine's push to join NATO.

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, stated in an interview with Bosnian-Herzegovinian media on the 24th (local time), "NATO's path to incorporate Ukraine and the potential deployment of offensive missiles near the Russian border pose unacceptable threats to Russia." He added, "This creates a serious military crisis for all involved parties and could lead to a large-scale conflict in Europe."

If Ukraine joins NATO, NATO weapons would be deployed on Ukrainian territory bordering Russia, which could create a military crisis between Russia and NATO and potentially escalate into a large-scale armed conflict in the European region.

Lavrov further stated, "First, the United States needs to lower the level of confrontation caused while protecting its client state, Ukraine."

President Vladimir Putin also strongly criticized NATO at his annual press conference the previous day, accusing NATO of breaking its verbal promise from the 1990s not to expand eastward and continuing expansion five times. He urged the swift provision of legal security guarantees that would prohibit NATO membership for former Soviet states including Ukraine, and ban the deployment of offensive weapons in countries neighboring Russia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.