NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on 10 January that the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission is taking place at an important time for European security.
“Ukraine is a valuable and long-term partner of NATO, and today’s meeting of the NATO-Ukraine commission falls on the beginning of an important week for European security. Our meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission is a timely opportunity to exchange assessments of the situation, express strong political and practical support for the alliance to Ukraine and coordinate positions before diplomatic engagement with Russia, ”he said.
Stoltenberg recalled that on Monday the Russian Federation and the United States will meet in Geneva, on Wednesday a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council will be held, and on Thursday – the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
According to the secretary general of the alliance, Russia continues to build up its military presence on the border with Ukraine “with tens of thousands of units on alert with serious capabilities.”
“On Friday, NATO foreign ministers again called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and from its borders, demonstrate transparency and de-escalate the situation. Any further aggression against Ukraine will entail a high political and economic cost, ”Stoltenberg emphasized.
Nonetheless, he welcomed the fact that Russia has agreed to an offer to host a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council this week.
“This is a positive signal. We will focus on European security, transparency related to military activity, risk reduction and arms control. We will listen to Russia’s concerns, but any meaningful dialogue should also respond to our concerns about Russia’s actions and should take place in consultation with Ukraine, as we do today. We are also consulting with other partners, including Georgia, Moldova, Finland, Sweden and the EU, ”the secretary general added.
However, he believes that this week “all problems will not be solved”, but it is necessary to start a process that will prevent a new conflict in Europe.
“I welcome the meeting of the RNC (the Russia-NATO Council. – Ed.), The talks in Geneva between the US and the Russian Federation, but I do not think that this week it will be possible to resolve all the problems. We hope that they will determine the path along which we can move forward, agree to hold a number of meetings, and initiate the process. It would be unrealistic to expect us to complete everything this week. But I hope that there is a will on both sides to start this process, to prevent a new armed conflict in Europe, ”he said.
On January 9, a Russian delegation arrived in Geneva to participate in talks with the United States on security guarantees. The interdepartmental delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. On the part of the Russian diplomatic service, it is headed by Ryabkov. He noted that Moscow is going to the meeting “not with outstretched hand”, the Russian side has a “clearly formulated task” that it will solve on its own terms.
At the same time, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the US administration did not expect breakthroughs in the coming week in the upcoming Russian-American talks on security. According to him, the American side will see if there is an opportunity to move forward.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia and the United States and NATO on security guarantees. As follows from the documents, in particular, the alliance is proposed to abandon the conduct of any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. According to a White House source, the US presidential administration found some of the proposals useful and others unacceptable.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
