Sergei Ryabkov: Russia wants to change the formula of the NATO summit in Madrid with the words that Georgia and Ukraine will never become members of NATO

According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, legal guarantees are needed that Ukraine and Georgia will never join NATO. This was stated by Sergei Ryabkov after the end of the Russia-US talks in Geneva.

As he noted, Russia wants to change the formula of the NATO summit in Madrid with the words that Georgia and Ukraine will never become members of NATO.

"We are fed up with loose talk, half promises. Ukraine and Georgia will never -- never ever -- become members of NATO," Ryabkov told reporters afterward, reiterating Russia's top demand, laid out last month in two draft treaties. "We do not trust the other side. We need ironclad, waterproof, bullet-proof, legally binding guarantees. Not safeguards -- guarantees."

He has said "no progress" was made on Russia's central demands and warned the U.S. is failing to understand the urgency of the situation.