NATO, Russia in high-level talks as Ukraine tensions simmer

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman says that any European country should have the right to join NATO if it wants to, despite Russia’s insistence that the military organization stop inviting new members in, particularly Ukraine. Sherman says she told NATO partners and Russia Wednesday that “every country has the sovereign right to choose its own path.” Her tweet came during a NATO-Russia Council in Brussels, where top NATO and Russian officials have been trying to bridge deep differences over the future of Ukraine. The meeting comes in a week of high-stakes diplomacy and a U.S.-led effort to prevent preparations for what some fear could be a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow denies that it’s planning any attack.