MOSCOW, 23 October 2021, (TON): President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Western-backed military development of Ukraine posed a serious threat to Russia, two days after the U.S. defense secretary staged a show of support for Kyiv and encouraged its aspiration to join NATO.

Putin told a group of journalists and Russia experts that Tuesday’s visit to Ukraine by Lloyd Austin, in which he said no third country had the right to veto its hoped-for NATO membership, had effectively paved the way for Kyiv to join.

Whether it did or not, Putin said, Russia’s interests were targeted.

“Formal membership (of Ukraine) in NATO may not take place, but military development of the territory is already under way,” Putin told the Valdai Discussion Club. “And this really poses a threat to Russia. We are aware of that.”

The United States has been Ukraine’s most powerful backer since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of a war the same year between Russian separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine, which Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people.

The Kremlin chief has consistently made clear that NATO membership for Ukraine – which shares close ties with Russia going back to ancient times – would be a red line for Moscow.