OREANDA-NEWS. Moscow will insist that NATO publicly announces its refusal to accept Kiev into its ranks. Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation for military security and arms control, stated this at the plenary session of the OSCE forum for security cooperation. According to him, after that Ukraine should declare its neutral status, RIA Novosti reports.

Kiev must declare a neutral, non-bloc status, as provided for by the declaration on the state sovereignty of Ukraine of July 16, 1990, the head of the delegation said.

Earlier, Italian political scientist Tiberio Graziani suggested that the Ukrainian government consider choosing neutrality to overcome the current crisis with Russia. In addition, diplomatic contacts between these countries should be established and the rhetoric of accusing Moscow of allegedly preparing an attack should be abandoned. Support for such an initiative by European countries would enable the United States, NATO and Russia itself to break the deadlock and restart the negotiation process on the Minsk agreements.

Kiev's refusal from membership in NATO, according to Graziani, in the current situation looks like an extremely unrealistic scenario, since this will require amendments to the country's constitution. In addition, in the “shaky Ukrainian political balance”, supporters of pro-Western and nationalist views have gained serious weight, who will definitely oppose such an idea.