MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. NATO’s statements about Ukraine’s possible accession to the alliance are short-sighted and dangerous, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday, commenting on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to Kiev.

"NATO is dead set on defeating Russia in Ukraine and in order to motivate Kiev it promises that the country can be admitted into the alliance after the end of the conflict. Such statements are short-sighted and simply dangerous. It could lead to the utter collapse of the European security system," she stressed.

She noted that during Stoltenberg’s surprise visit to Kiev attempts were made to revive discussions on Ukraine’s possible accession to NATO. "The Kiev regime expects ‘security guarantees’ and a ‘political’ invitation for membership from the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in July. Doing [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky’s bidding, Stoltenberg reiterated to him that Ukraine’s ‘place is in NATO,’ claiming that all member states of the alliance back this idea. This assertion is no big news. Going back to the NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008, they promised Ukraine and Georgia back then that they would be members of the alliance," she said.

The diplomat recalled that Russia has repeatedly warned, even before 2008, about the risks and destructiveness of bringing Ukraine into NATO. "They refused to listen to us. They did not want to heed our numerous initiatives and proposals geared to restore an equal system of European security. All that was rejected and the West has consistently made an anti-Russian project out of Ukraine," Zakharova stressed.

On Thursday, Stoltenberg paid an unannounced visit to Kiev where he met with Zelensky.