MOSCOW, October 2 – Novosti. NATO should give guarantees to Russia about the neutral status of Ukraine, contrary to the demands of Vladimir Zelensky to join the alliance, Richard David Precht, a German publicist and host of the ZDF TV channel , said on the RND podcast.
“For a new member to join the military bloc, the consent of all participating countries is needed. Based on this, if at least one European country gives Russia mandatory guarantees that it will vote against Ukraine’s admission to NATO, then we will be able to reduce the degree of pressure and, possibly, prepare ground for further negotiations,” Precht said.
His initiative caused a strong reaction in Germany and beyond. So, the proposal was sharply criticized by the head of the Ministry of Health of Germany, Karl Lauterbach. Also, Precht’s words outraged the ex-ambassador of Ukraine in Berlin Andriy Melnyk .
On September 30, President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics , Kherson and Zaporizhia regions signed treaties on the inclusion of these regions into Russia. Against this background, Zelensky said that Kyiv would immediately apply for an accelerated entry into NATO. However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recalled that in order to accept a new member into the military bloc, the consent of all 30 participating countries is required, although he promised that NATO would concentrate efforts on providing assistance to Kiev.
