NATO officials reject Russian demand to halt expansion, media reports

NATO is not holding any active discussions on Russia's demand that the alliance halt its eastward expansion,  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty wrote, citing several undisclosed NATO officials and diplomats.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the NATO officials said that the issue of NATO's potential non-enlargement has not been raised at any recent, or even earlier, alliance meetings. One official called it "perhaps just an academic discussion," noting that any such decision would require full consensus among NATO members.

The clarification comes after Reuters reported on May 28 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include receiving a written commitment from Western leaders to cease NATO's expansion.

Russian propaganda for years insisted that Ukraine's ambition to join NATO was a major trigger for its invasion. Russia's military aggression against Ukraine started in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine, at a time when Ukraine's chances and desires of joining the alliance were low.

According to NATO sources cited by Radio Liberty, the written pledge Moscow demands is unrealistic. "It’s not something they (Russia) can just get," one diplomat said, pointing to international agreements that enshrine every nation's right to freely choose its alliances — including the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949, the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.

A separate source referenced the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997, a document some consider obsolete but still formally existing, which affirms respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and upholds the principle of self-determination.

U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said in a May 29 interview with ABC News that NATO's eastward expansion is a "fair" concern for Putin. He also emphasized that Ukraine's membership in the alliance is "not on the table."

U.S. President Donald Trump has also repeatedly echoed Moscow's narrative that Ukraine's efforts to join NATO have been one of the root causes of the full-scale invasion.

In March, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha firmly opposed any limitations on Ukraine's right to join international organizations, specifically NATO and the European Union, as a condition for reaching a potential peace agreement.

Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022, months after the outbreak of the full-scale war. The country has not received a formal invitation, as the 32 members have not reached a consensus.