One of Russia’s key goals is to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, the Kremlin said, commenting on the visit of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Kyiv on Thursday, CNN reports.

Ukraine’s accession to NATO “will pose a serious and significant threat to our country, to the security of our country,” Kremlin press secretary Dmytro Peskov said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for his first visit since Russia’s large-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, demonstrating the alliance’s support for Ukraine as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive. Stoltenberg has not yet visited Ukraine, although the leaders of NATO member countries have visited Kyiv several times.

Stoltenberg laid a wreath in memory of Ukrainian soldiers who fell on the battlefield in the east of the country and inspected the capture of Russian armored vehicles from Mykhailo Square in the center of Kyiv, writes Reuters.

Ukraine formally applied to join NATO in September 2022 after Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions that its forces had partially occupied, and hopes to receive a road map from alliance leaders at a summit in Vilnius next month.