I read that as him reporting what Russia was saying at that time.The guy who was former CIA director and ambassador to Russia made the same statements in 2008 about Ukraine being a red line that today are 'Kremlin talking points'.
Are you people seriously thinking the CIA director is really a Russian stooge?
Read the cable yourself:
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08MOSCOW265_a.html
Couldn’t one argue that the Ukraine - NATO relationship accelerated after (and because) Russia invaded Crimea?