Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
According to US Envoy, Keith Kellogg, the US i ready to stop the eastward expansion of NATO.
According to US Envoy, Keith Kellogg, the US is ready to stop the eastward expansion of NATO.
What is happening?
Earlier this week, three Russian sources told Reuters that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, will demand a written pledge by Western leaders to stop the eastward expansion of NATO.
What is the eastward expansion?
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, several former Soviet states have becom part of NATO.
The last three former Soviet States to join NATO was Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, all joining in the Spring of 2004.
US ready to stop
US Special Envoy, Keith Kellog, said in an interview with ABC, that the US acknowledge the Russian concerns regarding the eastward expansion.
He adds that the US is ready to stop the eastward expansion.
Names three countries
A stop of the eastward expansion of NATO would mean that Ukraine will have to forget all about becoming a member of NATO, but they’re not the only ones.
Kellog also specifically mentions the former Soviet states, now countries, Moldova and Georgia.
Trump on Ukrainian NATO-membership
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Ukraine will not become a NATO-member – most lately during a meeting with British PM Keir Starmer in late February 2025.
Why is the expansion controversial?
Former Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev was the first one to speak of a guarantee of “non-expansion of NATO to the east”. In interviews, he has since both confirmed the existence of said guarantee, but also denied its exisence.
Even experts disagree
The alleged guarantee was never written, and therefore even experts and scholars disagree on wether the guarantee was actually made in the early 1990’s.
16 former Soviet states added
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, 16 former Soviet states have become members of NATO.