GENEVA, April 29. /TASS/. American international lawyer and former independent expert of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Alfred-Maurice de Zayas pointed out that the expansion of NATO violates Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter, which establishes for all member countries of the organization the principle of non-threat of force or its use in international relations.

According to the expert, Western countries have launched a "war for NATO expansion" against Russia. Russia's main demands for peace are "easy to understand and they comply with the UN Charter." They include "ending NATO expansion, which violates Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter, and the self-determination of the Russian majority of the population of Crimea and Donbass in accordance with Articles 1 and 55 of the Charter and Article I of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."

"Peace is possible only if the US and the NATO countries recognize their responsibility for starting a war," de Zayas notes on his Facebook page. "Russia will stop retaliating when NATO commits to building a security architecture and ceases to threaten the national security of Russians."

On April 26, The New York Times reported that US officials at the talks in London and Paris made it clear to Ukrainian officials that the next American administration may reconsider its position on Ukraine's accession to NATO. As US President Donald Trump said earlier in an interview with Time magazine, he doesn’t believe that Ukraine will ever be able to join NATO.

Earlier, the Reuters news agency published America's draft proposal on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. The plan stipulates Ukraine renouncing any claims to joining NATO. At the same time, the American side approved Kiev's intention to work on joining the EU.