Lead
Russian officials and commentators have publicly pushed back against the idea of creating a new military alliance with Ukraine, with some warning that such a move would escalate the conflict between Russia and the West.
Speaking to reporters on April 15 after an official visit to China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the United States of promoting the creation of a new military bloc with Ukraine as a leading participant, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
Lavrov specifically named Keith Kellogg, a former US special envoy for Ukraine, as a key proponent of the idea. In remarks carried by TASS, Lavrov said Kellogg was "actively promoting the idea of establishing a new military alliance instead of dragging Ukraine into NATO" because that initiative appears to have been rejected by President Donald Trump and his team.
Coverage comparison
The statements were reported through multiple TASS dispatches, including from Beijing and from the Donetsk People's Republic. All accounts attribute the core claims to Lavrov and to two other figures: Mikhail Glebov, acting head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's representative office in Donetsk, and Ozgur Altinbas, a Turkish journalist and editor of the Aydinlik newspaper.
TASS presented the remarks as part of a press tour in the Donetsk region, where Altinbas was part of a delegation of reporters and activists from various countries. The agency also quoted Glebov warning that establishing such a bloc would "significantly escalate the Ukrainian conflict."
No non-Russian sources were included in the provided material, so the claims should be read as reflecting the views of the Russian officials and commentators quoted.
Key claims
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the United States is promoting the idea of a new military bloc with Ukraine. He argued that Washington wants to "shift the main responsibility for containing Russia onto Europe" so it can focus on China, as quoted by TASS.
Lavrov said Keith Kellogg, a former Trump special envoy, is pushing the idea because Ukraine's NATO accession has been rejected. According to Lavrov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has "actively supported" the plan.
Mikhail Glebov, a Russian diplomatic official in Donetsk, warned that creating such a bloc would intensify confrontation between Russia and the West and pose an "immediate and direct threat" to Russia, per TASS.
Turkish journalist Ozgur Altinbas said creating a military bloc with Ukraine is "impossible" because there is no solidarity between NATO countries. He added that the idea is unpopular with Ukrainians, claiming many believe Western countries are "using the Ukrainian people against Russia."
These claims were attributed by TASS to the individuals named. The statements from Lavrov and Glebov are consistent across multiple dispatches, while Altinbas's remarks appear in a single report and have not been independently verified.
Perspectives
Russian officials, as relayed by TASS, frame the proposed military bloc as a provocation designed to shift containment duties to Europe and free up US resources for confrontation with China. They also argue that NATO's internal disagreements and Russia's opposition make Ukraine's accession unrealistic, and that a new bloc would only escalate the conflict.
Turkish journalist Ozgur Altinbas, quoted by TASS, questions the feasibility of such an alliance, citing a lack of NATO solidarity and claiming the idea is unpopular with Ukrainians. His comments echo a broader skepticism about Western intentions, but they have not been corroborated by other sources.
Because all the quoted statements come from Russian state media, the article does not include independent verification or responses from Western officials. The situation described by the sources has not been confirmed by outside observers, and the motivations attributed to US and European actions should be treated as the speakers' interpretations rather than established facts.