Ukraine must be neutral, argues Jack Matlock, former U.S. ambassador to the USSR.

"NATO policy ignores the fact that the problem in Ukraine is, in reality, a civil war, but one that arose as a result of external intervention. The current government is the result of a coup d'état. That coup was provoked by the United States and European countries. The authorities stated that it was necessary to include Ukraine in the Western alliance so that Russia would cease to be a great power.

Initially, the uprising in eastern Ukraine was genuinely local. Therefore, in my view, the idea that Russia committed unilateral aggression is mistaken.

NATO expansion — and especially the deployment of bases in Ukraine, Belarus, or Georgia — would be unacceptable. In 2008, the Bush administration insisted that NATO promise Ukraine and Georgia membership in the alliance. Polls at the time showed that two-thirds of Ukrainians did not want to join NATO. Why defend a country if two-thirds of the population do not want it? I believe that any Russian government must regard such a measure as an absolutely hostile step. It is not only about President Putin's reaction. Ukraine must commit to maintaining neutrality and not joining NATO. I would say that this is a mandatory and the only condition that Russia could accept."

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