MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. The leaders of most NATO countries are aware that Ukraine’s accession to the alliance will entail the most serious of consequences, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.
"The leaders of most NATO countries, including the United States and Germany, are in no hurry to speak in support [of Ukraine’s accelerated accession to NATO] as they are apparently aware of the seriousness of this move, which will go beyond all permissible limits and entail the most serious consequences," the diplomat said.
Until recently, the alliance has stressed that Ukraine had failed to comply with formal requirements for being granted the status of a NATO candidate country and pointed to the need for Kiev to carry out reforms, decisively fight corruption and take other steps, the spokeswoman said.
However, the example of Montenegro and North Macedonia recently being admitted to the alliance shows that the so-called membership criteria can be easily ignored for the sake of achieving geopolitical goals, the diplomat said.