Russia said on Monday that Ukrainian membership of the Nato military alliance would have very negative consequences for Europe’s security architecture and that Moscow would respond firmly to any such step.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking on the eve of a Nato summit in Lithuania aimed at showing solidarity with Ukraine while not yet accepting Kyiv as a member of the alliance.

“You know the absolutely clear and consistent position of the Russian Federation that Ukraine’s membership in Nato will have very, very negative consequences for the security architecture, the already half-destroyed security architecture in Europe.

And it will be an absolute danger, a threat to our country, which will require from us a sufficiently clear and firmreaction,” Peskov told reporters.