"Complete nonsense": Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responds to Russia's demands to abandon NATO membership.

The statement by Grushko was made on the air of the television channel "Russia-24," which is quoted by the Russian agency "Interfax."

He referred to the decision of the Bucharest NATO summit as "catastrophic for European security," which solidified the intention to accept Ukraine and Georgia into the Alliance.

Grushko also identified this decision as the cause of the war in Ukraine. For this reason, he stated that Russia demands "ironclad guarantees" that Ukraine will not join NATO.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the remarks made by the Russian Foreign Ministry representative. The ministry's spokesperson, Georgiy Tikhiy, stated that the architecture of European security is "built on protection from Russia" and that Russia "was not given a say" on this matter.

"Oh, well, it’s surprising that an ally of North Korea is issuing ultimatums to NATO. Absolute nonsense," he declared.

Recall that last year at the summit in Washington, NATO member states confirmed that Ukraine is on an "irreversible path" to membership in the Alliance. Furthermore, the allies acknowledged that the country is becoming increasingly operationally and politically integrated with the Alliance.

Before the summit, former Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed hope that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance within the next 10 years. At the same time, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Julian Smith, stated that the Alliance does not plan to invite Ukraine to join this bloc in the near future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that first, the unoccupied territories of Ukraine should come under NATO protection. The remaining territories, he noted, would be returned through diplomatic means.