The Kremlin said on Monday that the position of US President Donald Trump's administration on ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine gave Moscow satisfaction, but declined to comment on Trump's hopes for deal this week.
US envoy General Keith Kellogg said on Sunday that NATO membership was "off the table" for Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly said previous US support for Ukraine's bid to join NATO was a cause of the war.
"We have heard from Washington at various levels that Ukraine's membership in NATO is excluded," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters." Of course, this is something that causes our satisfaction and coincides with our position."
Peskov said that Ukrainian membership of the US-led alliance would "pose a threat to the national interests of the Russian Federation. And, in fact, this is one of the root causes of this conflict."