Russian president Vladimir Putin said Monday (7 February) in Moscow that leaving Nato membership open to Ukraine risked war in Europe, in a message addressed to the French people and French president Emmanuel Macron.
Ukraine and Nato "believed" that Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, was Ukrainian, Putin noted.
And if Ukraine joined Nato, then Nato would be obliged to reconquer Crimea under its Article V mutual defence clause, Putin told French media after meeting...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.