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NATO: Stoltenberg warns Russia against military aggression against Ukraine

2022-01-10T11:15:39.381Z


In Geneva negotiators from the USA and Russia are trying to defuse the Ukraine crisis. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg does not want to block Kiev's way into the defense alliance.


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NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg with the Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Olga Stefanischyna

Photo: JOHN THYS / AFP

Despite the increasing tensions with Russia, NATO does not want to rule out Ukraine joining the military alliance.

The alliance will not affect the right to self-determination of the states of Europe, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Accession to NATO is solely the decision of Ukraine and the member states of the alliance.

At the same time, Stoltenberg warned Russia against military aggression against Ukraine.

This would have unforeseeable political and economic consequences.

With a view to the upcoming talks with Russian representatives, Stoltenberg spoke of "an important week for the security of Europe".

The Deputy Foreign Ministers of the United States and Russia, Wendy Sherman and Sergei Ryabkov, have been discussing face-to-face in Geneva since the morning.

A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council will follow on Wednesday and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to which Russia also belongs, on Thursday.

Stoltenberg said that the talks were entered into with good intentions and that Russia's concerns would be heard.

"Have the right to take our own security precautions"

The NATO-Ukraine Commission met in Brussels on Monday.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanischyna said at a joint press appearance with Stoltenberg that Russia, as an »aggressor«, is not entitled to make any demands.

"We have the right to take our own security precautions," said Stefanischyna, according to the Reuters news agency.

Russia has gathered almost 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine.

The West is threatening tough sanctions if Russian soldiers invade Ukraine.

The Moscow government rejects allegations that it is preparing an invasion.

Instead, they want to make it clear that Moscow will not accept NATO's further eastward expansion.

Russia also demands security guarantees.

Before the talks with his US counterpart, Ryabkov told Russian state television: "The American side must be prepared for compromises." Russia had formulated clear positions, even at the highest level, from which "it is not easy to deviate," said the diplomat .

Sherman, on the other hand, had insisted that each country was free to choose which alliance to join.

fek / Reuters / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-01-10

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