BERLIN, January 12. /TASS/. Every country is entitled to decide which alliances it would like to join, but Ukraine’s accession to any alliance is not being discussed at the moment, German Cabinet spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Wednesday.
"Every country can decide which alliance it would like to join, in close coordination with the specific alliance," he said. "Despite that, I would like to say it clearly, Ukraine’s accession [to any alliance] is not being discussed at this moment.
Talks on security
On October 31 last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a 50-minute phone call with US President Joe Biden. According to Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, the phone call focused on the upcoming talks on guarantees of security, with the two leaders agreeing to personally supervise the talks and stay in contact by phone.
Moscow expects that the talks with the US will result in NATO providing legal guarantees of non-expansion eastward and non-deployment of threatening weapons near the Russian border. According to Ushakov, the US President agreed with this standpoint. The Russian President warned that potential new sanctions against Russia may lead to the full cessation of diplomatic relations with the West and seriously harm its connections with the West in general.