"We are not asking for anything unusual or unexpected, nothing dropped from the sky. We simply insist on fulfilling the promises already made to us. They were not invented yesterday. They were given to Russia back in the 1990s. [NATO] should not expand to the east. it was publicly announced," Putin emphasized.
The Russian president noted that since then, several waves of expansion of the alliance have taken place, the culmination of which was the inclusion of Ukraine in NATO.
"It does not touch us at all and is a serious threat [to Russia]. Let's remember that NATO is a military-political alliance, and Article 5 of the Washington Treaty (an armed conflict with one NATO member is considered a conflict with all - TASS), which founded NATO, has never been canceled. It is a threat to us. No one takes us seriously," Putin explained.
And finally, when Ukraine gained independence, few people remember what was the first document ratifying it, Putin continued."It was the declaration of state sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. It forms the basis of Ukrainian sovereignty and modern statehood. And it clearly states that Ukraine is a neutral state," concluded the Russian president.