Russia Demands NATO Scrap Ukraine Membership Pledge

Russia on demanded that NATO formally retract its 2008 commitment to grant Ukraine membership in the alliance. Moscow also dismissed any suggestion of NATO troops acting as peacekeepers, following talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Riyadh on Tuesday. Lavrov described the talks as “useful” but reiterated Russia’s stance on Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.

Moscow’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that merely halting Ukraine’s NATO accession was not sufficient. She said NATO must formally rescind its 2008 Bucharest Summit declaration, where the alliance promised Ukraine and Georgia eventual membership but without a set timeline.

"A refusal to accept Kyiv into NATO is not enough now. The alliance must disavow the Bucharest promises of 2008," Zakharova said.

Lavrov also rejected the idea of NATO forces acting as peacekeepers in Ukraine, referring to a proposal by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to send European troops under a separate banner.

“The appearance of NATO forces under a false flag—whether EU or national—does not change anything. This is unacceptable to us,” Lavrov said.

NATO’s 2008 Ukraine Promise

The Bucharest declaration of 2008 was a compromise between the U.S., which backed Ukraine’s entry, and France and Germany, which feared antagonising Russia. Moscow has consistently cited NATO’s expansion as a key reason for its war in Ukraine.

While NATO insists it is a defensive alliance with no expansionist aims, Russia claims that Ukraine’s potential accession represents a direct threat to its sovereignty.

Zakharova also referred to Ukraine’s 1990 declaration of sovereignty, in which Kyiv pledged to remain neutral, avoid military blocs, and remain nuclear-free.

Ukraine gained full independence in 1991 and later agreed to give up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances from Russia, the U.S., and the UK under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

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