NATO allies must understand that conceding to Russia’s demand to halt the alliance’s eastward expansion is tantamount to a death sentence for many people—and possibly entire nations, wrote Marko Mihkelson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, on the social platform X.

According to him, only NATO members have the right to decide on the alliance’s expansion.

“Let’s consider how many lives could have been saved if there had been no internal disagreements at the 2008 Bucharest Summit and Georgia and Ukraine had been granted Membership Action Plans. Only NATO members have the right to decide on NATO’s expansion,” Marko Mihkelson stated.

As a reminder, Keith Kellogg, special representative of U.S. President Donald Trump, stated that the Kremlin’s concerns regarding NATO expansion are legitimate, and the U.S. is ready to discuss this issue within the framework of peace negotiations concerning Ukraine. “This is a legitimate concern. We have already said that Ukraine’s NATO membership is not on the table, and we are not the only country saying this. You know, I could probably name four other countries in NATO, and for NATO membership approval, you need all 32 out of 32 countries. This is one of the issues Russia will raise. They are not only talking about Ukraine; they are also talking about Georgia and Moldova. We are saying, okay, we can pause NATO expansion near your borders. This is considered a security issue for them,” Kellogg stated.