The United States forced Ukraine to abandon its claims to the status of a major partner outside NATO.
Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Sergei Rakhmanin stated this on Radio NV, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to Rakhmanin, Washington threatened that pushing this topic would lead to a deterioration in relations.
“We abandoned this idea not because we were afraid that it would harm the movement towards NATO, but because the United States itself very politely and carefully asked us not to push this topic, hinting that we could not count on this. And if we continue to insist, this may affect relations between our two countries,” the deputy said.
“So, basically, it was a forced retreat. I don’t think that this topic has any prospects in the near future, unfortunately. Although that would be very good,” said Rakhmanin.