NATO May Halt Eastward Expansion in Europe — US Envoy

TASS ^ | 5/30/25

[marshmallow]

Keith Kellogg said he considered the Russian side's concerns about NATO's eastward expansion to be justified

NEW YORK, May 30. /TASS/. NATO may stop accepting new Eastern European countries into its ranks, as the US understands that this is a matter of national security for Russia, US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told ABC News in an interview.

"That's one of the issues that Russia [will] bring up. They [the Russians] are not just talking Ukraine, they're talking the country of Georgia, they're talking Moldova. We've said that to us, Ukraine coming into NATO is not on the table, and we're not the only country that says that - you know I could probably give you four other countries in NATO and it takes 32 of the 32 to allow you to come in to NATO," Kellogg said.

The special envoy did not rule out the possibility of reaching such an agreement during negotiations between the US and Russia, taking into account the positions of other countries. In this case, the proposals worked out in detail by diplomats would have to be submitted to the US president for consideration and discussed among the other NATO members. During the same interview, Kellogg said he considered the Russian side's concerns about NATO's eastward expansion to be justified. He also assured that Ukraine's accession to the alliance was not on the agenda.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that Moscow was ready for the second round of negotiations with Kiev, which is scheduled to take place in Istanbul on June 2. Lavrov said that the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, would present Ukraine with a Russian memorandum on eliminating the root causes of the crisis.

The previous round of negotiations took place on May 16 and resulted in agreements to.........

[NorseViking]

Lol. Is there any room to expand?

[AndyJackson]

NATO may stop accepting new Eastern European countries into its ranks, as the US understands that this is a matter of national security for Russia, US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told ABC News in an interview..

Oh, we are just figuring this out now after breaking all the old agreements with Russia on eastward expansion?

Besides Ukraine who is left?

[AndyJackson]

Here is the list of so-called European countries NATO could expand to:

Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cyprus
Georgia
Ireland
Kosovo
Liechtenstein
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Switzerland
Ukraine
Vatican City

[Owen]

Factoids:

NATO’s operational budget is about $4B/yr. 16% of that is from the US. In addition to proportional funding of NATO’s operations (admin expenses), countries are expected to commit 2% of GDP to defense. This was something that solidified in the organization after 2014 and the Ukraine coup followed by Crimea joining Russia.

Per GPT, the following NATO countries are committing 2% of GDP to defense:

United States, Britain, Poland, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, and Slovakia. This is 11 of 32 total. Notable failures to comply — France, Canada, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Italy.

[Leaning Right]

> Keith Kellogg said he considered the Russian side’s concerns… <

A bit late, pal. We went crazy when the old USSR tried to put missiles in our backyard (Cuba). Yet we didn’t expect Russia to be concerned when NATO moved into its backyard?

That doesn’t mean Russia is entirely right here. The current Ukraine-Russia war is WW1 in miniature. A meat grinder with fools and egotists on each side. No one has clean hands.

[tlozo]

Michael McFaul @McFaul

We didn't ask Stalin's permission to create NATO. We didn't ask Khrushchev's permission to bring West Germany into NATO. We didn't ask the PRC or North Korea for permission to forge alliances with Japan and South Korea. We should not ask Putin's permission to bring Ukraine into NATO.

[tlozo]

Oh, we are just figuring this out now after breaking all the old agreements with Russia on eastward expansion?

Feel free to post a link to ANY of the "old agreements with Russia on eastward expansion".

They don't exist.

[KrisKrinkle]

Which of those countries border the North Atlantic?

[adorno]

We didn't ask Stalin's permission to create NATO. We didn't ask Khrushchev's permission to bring West Germany into NATO. We didn't ask the PRC or North Korea for permission to forge alliances with Japan and South Korea. We should not ask Putin's permission to bring Ukraine into NATO.

Any country that is threatened by outside forces, has a right to defend itself.

Any country that feels threatened and knows that it cannot defend itself against a much bigger threat by itself, should be allowed to join an alliance which would serve to better defend itself.

Common sense.

If a country was not deemed to be a threat, defending against it would be foolish and wasteful. Russia has been an ongoing threat to many parts of the world, for way over a century. The USSR or Russian empire did not come into being by accident or through willing partners.

[alexander_busek]

NATO may stop accepting new Eastern European countries into its ranks, as the US understands that this is a matter of national security for Russia, US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told ABC News in an interview.

Did we ever have veto rights about who was allowed to join the Warsaw Pact - or the Russians' "Collective Security Treaty Organization?!"

No, didn't think so! So why are we now expected to be so accommodating to the Russians?

Regards,

[adorno]

Which of those countries border the North Atlantic?

Why is the North Atlantic the only gauge by which a country is deemed threatened?

[tlozo]

No, didn't think so! So why are we now expected to be so accommodating to the Russians?

Because the Mongols, Napoleon and Hitler invaded them. /s

[Mariner]

“should be allowed”

By whom, exactly?

Who is the authority that has the power to approve and deny such things?

On the international stage, there is only one authority: Power.

And it makes all the rules.

[KrisKrinkle]

"Why is the North Atlantic the only gauge by which a country is deemed threatened?"

"Why is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?

[Kazan]

Ukraine coming into NATO is not on the table

That won't be good enough.

Russia will demand a pledge of Ukrainian neutrality and no NATO presence in Ukraine.

[tlozo]

[Kazan]

Any country that is threatened by outside forces, has a right to defend itself.

That is exactly what Russia is going in Ukraine.

An illegal coup in 2014 and the hostile regime that took over were a threat to Russia's naval base in Crimea.

[Kazan]

It has been Russia expanding our borders and building up a military presence on it.

But, NATO has done that to Russia.

Stop pretending otherwise.

[tlozo]

But, NATO has done that to Russia.

Stop pretending otherwise.

Most of the US weapons and soldiers were stationed in Germany, with the US cutting back the numbers after 1991.

We showed we weren't "harmful" to Russia by reducing troop levels.

Russian response, attack its neighbors(Georgia and Ukraine) and seize their land.

The number of U.S. troops stationed in Europe has fluctuated significantly over time, particularly after the end of the Cold War. In 1989, there were 315,225 troops, which decreased to 107,158 by 1995. By 2021, the number had further decreased to 63,853. In 2018, the number bottomed out at around 65,000