
At the plenary session of the Valdai Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that upon gaining independence, Ukraine adopted a declaration of its neutral status, but later included in the constitution the goal of joining NATO, which, in his opinion, became one of the reasons for the current conflict from the point of view of the security of the Russian Federation.
AI-generated summary
Ukraine declared its neutral status in its declaration of independence in 1991, but later changed its constitutional course to Euro-Atlantic integration and NATO membership.
During his speech at the plenary session of the meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, broadcast of which is available on Rutube, Russian President Vladimir Putin touched upon the topic of Ukraine’s neutral status.
He recalled that upon gaining independence, Ukraine adopted a declaration, on the basis of which it received its status. “The declaration says that [Ukraine] is a neutral state, but from the first steps of building the post-Soviet space and the new Russia, we always proceeded from the fact that Ukraine is a neutral state, and then suddenly they included in the constitution the requirements and goal of joining NATO,” the president said.
According to him, this is a completely different story, including from the point of view of the security of the Russian Federation, and this is one of the reasons for the ongoing conflict.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Russia will continue to demand guarantees of Ukraine's non-alignment with NATO as a condition for de-escalating the conflict
Likely · Within months

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