NATO Won't Offer Nuclear Guarantees to Russia

NATO's Deputy Secretary-General Camille Grand said that the US-led alliance has no plans to grant any guarantees to Russian regarding the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territories of its two prospective members, referring to Finland and Sweden.

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NATO's official said that "every country is free in the nuclear field to deploy or not to deploy such weapons. We are not talking about setting up some principle restrictions on the possible actions of the alliance," the NATO official told Swiss broadcaster RTS in an interview published on Tuesday.

Grand emphasized that every NATO member country decides this issue sovereignly, adding that there is no doubt about it. "But I do not think that in the current situation, it is necessary to give Russia any guarantees regarding our military posture in the region," he continued to say.

NATO's Grand said that Finland and Sweden longtime ago were neutral countries that have scrambled to join NATO in the scenario of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He highlighted that both countries had maintained close ties and military cooperation with the US-led bloc for decades despite their neutral position. "These are two very close partners who come with significant military capabilities. They also bring knowledge of the Baltic and Nordic Seas region," told Grand.

After the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukrainian territory last February 24, in response to Ukrainian failure to accomplish the terms of the Minsk agreements, Moscow has requested that Ukraine assume the position of a neutral country and quite the aspirations of joining NATO.

Otherwise,  the NATO official has said that Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance is not on the agenda. She also noted that the current military conflict that Ukraine is suffering must reach a solution before Kiev "will be able to decide for themselves how they want to position themselves in the European security architecture."