Russia says no progress with U.S. on desired Ukraine NATO membership ban

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday there had been no progress at security talks between Moscow and Washington on the question of ruling out future Ukrainian membership of NATO.

Russia says it wants a cast-iron guarantee that Ukraine will never be allowed to join the Western military alliance because such a move would pose a serious threat to Russian national security.

Speaking at a news conference after talks in Geneva, Ryabkov said the fate of future talks would depend in part on progress on the issue.