One of the objectives of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine is to prevent that country’s entry into NATO, the Kremlin stressed today, commenting on the visit of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, this Thursday to Kiev.

“Otherwise, this would represent a serious threat to the security of our country,” said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, in his telephone press conference.

Stoltenberg arrived in Ukraine on Thursday for his first visit to the country since February 2022.

“The NATO secretary general is in Ukraine. We will provide more information as soon as possible,” allied sources told EFE, without giving further details of the Norwegian politician’s agenda in Ukraine.

NATO has stressed on numerous occasions as an organization that it is not at war with Russia despite the practical assistance and non-lethal materiel support it is providing, including fuel, medical supplies, mobile satellite systems or pontoon bridges.

Until now, Stoltenberg had not traveled to Ukraine despite the fact that leaders of Alliance member countries have visited kyiv on different occasions.

Ukraine formally applied last September to join the Alliance and aspires to obtain a road map from the allied leaders at the Vilnius summit.

When asked today about kyiv’s prospects for joining NATO, the Kremlin limited itself to saying that it has no assessment on the matter.