Kiev's possible accession to NATO in the current conditions will eliminate the possibilities of a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine conflict and make the alliance's direct involvement in military operations against Russia inevitable, Aleksey Polishchuk, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's second department for the Commonwealth of Independent States' countries, told Sputnik.
"We constantly warn about the threat of Ukraine's NATO accession," Polishchuk said, when asked to comment on Szijjarto's statement about the possibility of direct Russia-NATO confrontation.
Ukraine's potential accession to the alliance "will put an end to the possibilities of a political and diplomatic settlement, making it inevitable that the alliance will engage directly in hostilities against Russia, and lead to an uncontrolled escalation," the official said.
Earlier this week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti that Ukraine's accession to NATO would mean a direct confrontation between the alliance and Russia, and lead to World War III.
In early October, NATO's new Secretary General, Mark Rutte, visited Kiev. He stated that Ukraine will eventually become a full member of the military bloc, and Russia has no veto power on this matter. However, he did not specify any timeline.
President Vladimir Putin has pointed out that Ukraine's potential NATO membership poses a threat to Russia’s security, which was one of the reasons for the start of the special military operation.