MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Russia considers Ukraine's non-aligned status extremely important, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the China Media Group. He explained he saw no chance for any country to build its own security by harming the security of others.
"We said that security of one group of states cannot be built at the expense of security of other states. Security needs to be the same for everyone. In this context, it is extremely important for us that Ukraine stays outside any blocs," the Russian leader said.
Russia, he explained, has the right to ensure its security like any other state.
"We believe that NATO poses threats to us through Ukraine and we want our concerns to be heard," Putin emphasized.
Back in 1991, he recalled, the then US Administration promised that there would be no eastward expansion of NATO.
"Since then, there have been five waves of NATO expansion, and every time we expressed our concerns. Every time we were told: yes, we promised you not to expand NATO eastwards, but those were verbal promises - is there any paper with our signature on it? No paper? Good-bye," Putin recalled.
He stated that "it is very difficult to engage in a dialogue with people like that."
As another example, he cited the agreements on the Iranian nuclear program.
"The negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program were very, very lengthy. An agreement was reached, a compromise found, and documents signed. Then came a new Administration and threw everything in the trash, as if those arrangements never existed. How can we agree on anything if every new Administration starts from scratch - begins each time from the center of the playing field?" Putin noted. "The same goes for any issue," including the expansion of NATO.