L’NATO is worried about the “real” risk of conflict in Ukraine with continued Russian military reinforcement at its borders, and must prepare for a failure of diplomacy, warned the Alliance’s secretary general on Friday (January 7th), Jens Stoltenberg. “Russia’s military build-up continues around Ukraine and is accompanied by a threatening speech from Moscow if its demands are not accepted. However, they are unacceptable, and the risk of a new conflict is real ”, declared Jens Stoltenberg after a videoconference meeting with the foreign ministers of the Alliance countries.
The Kremlin made public at the end of last year two treaty proposals committing NATO to exclude any future membership of Ukraine and to reduce its forces near the borders with Russia. “It is out of the question for NATO to compromise on the principle of the right of each nation to choose its own path, including the type of security agreement to which it wants to be part,” said Jens Stoltenberg.
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US-Russian talks are due to open Monday in Geneva to defuse the risk of Russian intervention in Ukraine. Moscow also agreed to participate Wednesday in a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, the first since the summer of 2019. “It is a positive signal, because the tensions are high”, underlined Jens Stoltenberg. But the allies set conditions. “The Russian government must proceed with a de-escalation, continue diplomatic channels and respect its commitments in terms of transparency of military activities”, demanded the British Foreign Minister, Liz Truss.
United States ready to respond forcefully to Russia
“No discussion on the security of Europe will take place without Europeans at the negotiating table,” Jens Stoltenberg also insisted. The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, for his part promised in Kiev that there would be “no discussion on Ukraine without Ukraine”. “We are ready to respond forcefully to further Russian aggression. But a diplomatic solution is still possible, and preferable, if Russia chooses this path, ”Antony Blinken told the press in Washington, after having participated in the virtual NATO meeting.
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“Russia is now demanding that the United States and NATO sign treaties to withdraw NATO forces stationed on the soil of allies in Central and Eastern Europe, and to prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO , and wants to draw us into a debate on NATO rather than let us (let us) focus on the hot topic of its aggression against Ukraine. We will not be distracted by this, ”warned Antony Blinken.
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“I think that it is certainly part of their strategy to present a list of absolutely inadmissible demands and then claim that the other side is not playing the game and use that as a justification for an aggression”, the secretary of ‘State. “But the reality is that Russia knows very well what we cannot accept. And there are also files, subjects, on which we can dialogue. “
NATO will not intervene
“The entire geopolitical situation in the region requires that Europe, the European Union, be able to propose its vision of things, to act and to sit around the table with all the stakeholders”, insisted, on Friday, the president. French Emmanuel Macron during a meeting in Paris with members of the European Commission chaired by the German Ursula von der Leyen.
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“We have to prepare for the prospect that the consultation will fail,” warned Jens Stoltenberg. “If Russia decides to use military means against a neighbor, it will be hit by severe economic and political sanctions,” he also said. But NATO will not intervene militarily, because Ukraine is not a member country of the Alliance, he repeated. “Ukraine is a partner, but is not covered by the collective defense clause among the 30 allies,” he said. The Alliance is, however, preparing to strengthen its military presence on its eastern flank. “We have significant capabilities,” said Jens Stoltenberg, recalling that NATO had a rapid reaction force of 40,000 men.