Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the United States, in dialogue with Russia, insists that Moscow cannot decide for Ukraine on its possible membership in NATO. He spoke about this on the Fox News channel.

“Some issues, of course, are not on the agenda, but we have made a number of serious proposals and we hope that Russia will respond to them. We declare that the issue of Ukraine's membership should be decided by Ukraine and NATO. This is not something that Mr. (Vladimir) Putin can veto,” Kirby said.

He added that the States put forward a number of serious proposals to Russia, to which the Russian Federation has yet to respond on a reciprocal basis.

Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at a press conference in Vilnius with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, said that the US was ready to send "thousands more troops" to the eastern flank of NATO, if necessary.

He stressed that the United States seriously assesses its obligations to NATO allies, the alliance's promise to adhere to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty is "hard as steel."

bbabo.Net