Kremlin says it will ‘analyze’ Ukraine’s offer to discuss non-aligned NATO status

By AP 25 February 2022, 1:27 pm

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People look at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit, on February 25, 2022. (GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

MOSCOW — The Kremlin says it will analyze the Ukrainian president’s offer to discuss a non-aligned status for his country, as a Russian military invasion pushes closer to Kyiv.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to hold talks on the issue.

Asked about Zelensky’s offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov describes it as “a move in a positive direction.”

He says in a conference call with reporters that “we paid attention to that, and now we need to analyze it.”

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Zelensky “is simply lying” when he offers to discuss non-aligned status for Ukraine. Lavrov said Zelensky “missed the opportunity” to discuss a neutral status for Ukraine in NATO when Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed it.