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Jim Stokes, a senior expert with GLOBSEC’s “Future of Security” program and former director of nuclear policy at NATO (2023–2025), commented in an interview with Ukrinform on Russia accepting the reality of NATO’s 32 member countries. According to Stokes, Russia will have to acknowledge that NATO now includes 32 members; otherwise, NATO will simply state, "Noted.

We are not going to change." Stokes found it "absolutely impossible" for the Alliance to agree to the Kremlin's demands to reduce military presence to pre-1997 levels. He pointed out that Finland and Sweden, as well as the 16 countries that joined after the Cold War, will not abandon the Alliance, and the other Allies are not willing to let them do so, a situation unprecedented in NATO's 77-year history.

However, Stokes noted that the question remains open regarding whether NATO will ever permit new allies to join, with such a decision made by consensus among all 32 countries. Ultimately, Stokes emphasized that the primary issue at hand is the Russian war shaping the threat perception, which led to Finland and Sweden joining NATO instead of remaining partners.

He concluded that Russia bears much of the responsibility for turning the issue into a political one, having previously not objected to NATO's expansion during the late 1990s and early 2000s.