NATO allies are united in & nbsp; that & nbsp; Russia cannot & nbsp; can veto Ukraine's & nbsp; and & nbsp; are ready to provide support to Kiev. About & nbsp; this after negotiations with the & nbsp; Russian delegation in & nbsp; within the Council Russia & nbsp; & mdash; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
“ All members are united in & nbsp; that & nbsp; concerns a key principle: that & nbsp; every state has the right to choose its own path & nbsp; The Allies also agree & nbsp; that & nbsp; only Ukraine and & nbsp; 30 allies in & nbsp; can decide when Ukraine is ready to become a NATO member & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; Stoltenberg said.
He clarified that Russia cannot veto Ukraine's accession to NATO.
Negotiations with the & nbsp; Russian delegation, which lasted about & nbsp; four hours, Stoltenberg called difficult, but & nbsp; useful.
& nbsp; We had a frank and & nbsp; open discussion on & nbsp; a wide range of issues, of course, with & nbsp; focusing on & nbsp; tensions in & nbsp; Ukraine and & nbsp; around & nbsp; it. But & nbsp; meeting was helpful & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; said the NATO Secretary General.
This meeting of the Council of Russia & nbsp; & mdash; NATO is the second in a series of talks on security guarantees. The first was held in Geneva between the delegations of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department, the third is expected on January 13 & nbsp; within the OSCE.
After the talks in Geneva, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who heads the Russian delegation, reiterated that Russia was opposed to NATO's eastward movement.
According to & nbsp; he said, Moscow does not & nbsp; trusts the alliance and & nbsp; insists on & nbsp; & nbsp; “ reinforced concrete, legally significant guarantees & raquo; and & nbsp; not & nbsp; on & nbsp; promises that & nbsp; nor & nbsp; nbs; block. The diplomat called it a matter of Russia's national security.
First Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, representing the American side, in & nbsp; in turn, reiterated that & nbsp; that & nbsp; the United States “ will not & nbsp; allow anyone to close the door to another country in & nbsp; NATO.
Responding to & nbsp; concerns The West on the & nbsp; about the “ invasion '' Russia to & nbsp; Ukraine, Ryabkov in & nbsp; once again ruled out the possibility of aggression against a neighboring state.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia needs “just legal, legal guarantees,” since the West did not fulfill its verbal obligations. in & nbsp; the fact that & nbsp; NATO will not & nbsp; will move to the & nbsp; east, however & nbsp; however, according to & nbsp; the opposite was done.
Stoltenberg did not rule out a political solution to the disagreements with Russia 
On 17 & nbsp; December, the Foreign Ministry released a draft treaty with the & nbsp; United States on & nbsp; security guarantees and & nbsp; an agreement on & nbsp; security measures with & nbsp; NATO.
In & nbsp; they focus on & nbsp; guarantees of NATO's refusal from & nbsp; further progress on & nbsp; east, concentration at & nbsp; the borders of offensive weapons systems, joining the & nbsp; alliance of states that were previously part of the & nbsp; USSR, & nbsp; including Ukraine, conducting any military activity on & nbsp; the territory of Ukraine, and & nbsp; also other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and & nbsp; Central Asia.
Putin several times pointed out that & nbsp; if the US and & nbsp; NATO missile systems appear in & nbsp; Ukraine, then & nbsp; their & nbsp; flight time to & nbsp; Moscow will be reduced to & nbsp; seven & nbsp; & mdash; ten minutes, and & nbsp; in the & nbsp; case with & nbsp; hypersonic weapons & nbsp; & mdash; up to & nbsp; five.
Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in & nbsp; ruled out that the & nbsp; bloc ever made promises not to & nbsp; promote & nbsp; east.