On Wednesday (December 1), tensions in Ukraine escalated after Russia asked NATO to “guarantee” that the military alliance would not expand to eastern Europe.
At a joint meeting with Georgian and Ukrainian counterparts, NATO foreign ministers met in Riga, Latvia, to assure the two countries of their commitment to join the alliance in due course.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting: “Ukraine and Georgia are important partners eager to join NATO, and we continue to support their sovereignty.”
NATO has previously stated that if Ukraine is attacked by Russia, it will not use military means to protect Ukraine, because Article 5 of the alliance’s mutual defense clause applies only to its members.
NATO has not yet agreed to grant Ukraine membership, but it regards Ukraine as a partner and has provided training and other forms of military support.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned NATO not to deploy troops and weapons around Ukraine, saying that this would represent Moscow’s “red line.”
On Wednesday, Putin also stated that he would seek assurances from the West to prevent NATO from further expanding and deploying its weapons near the Russian border.
Putin said in Moscow that Moscow will seek “strong, reliable and long-term security.”
“In the dialogue with the United States and its allies, we will insist on formulating specific agreements to rule out further eastward movement of NATO and deployment of weapons systems that threaten us near Russian territory,” he said.
Putin said: “We did not ask for any special conditions for ourselves, and realized that any agreement must take into account the interests of Russia and all Euro-Atlantic countries.”
“It is necessary to ensure a calm and stable situation for all people. All people need and are not excluded.”
When asked about Putin’s statement and Ukraine’s future potential membership in Riga, Stoltenberg said that Ukraine’s membership in NATO will be determined by its 30 members, provided that the country meets relevant standards, including institutional reforms. Fight against corruption.
“Russia has no right to veto. Russia has no right to say. Russia has no right to establish spheres of influence and try to control neighboring countries,” Stoltenberg told reporters from the podium.
These arguments are not new in nature, nor do they assume that NATO is prepared to expand. Most NATO members believe that expanding alliances in areas that Moscow sees as their backyard is a risk rather than an advantage.
“It’s just that this question reflects some things. I think we should be very clear that this is unacceptable-that is, Russia has an sphere of influence,” the NATO chairman retorted.
Stoltenberg said: “They are trying to re-establish a certain acceptance that Russia has the right to control what its neighbors do or don’t do.”
“I think this is more indicative of Russia than NATO,” he added.
The argument that Russia has no sphere of influence may anger Moscow. Senior American experts have recently argued that “Russia needs a buffer.”
“It is wrong to think that NATO’s support for a sovereign country is a provocation. This is to respect the sovereignty and will of the Ukrainian people,” he said, adding that Ukraine is an independent country and its borders must be secure and its neighbors must not be violated.
“We don’t want to return to a world where the country is restricted by the sphere of influence of the superpower,” he emphasized when answering a question about Russia’s response to Ukraine’s possible participation.
The worst situation
In Riga, Ukraine urged NATO to prepare to impose economic sanctions on Russia to prevent a possible invasion if necessary. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said that he had made this request to his NATO counterparts.
“We will call on the allies to work together with Ukraine to develop a deterrence plan,” Kuleba told reporters when he arrived in Riga for the talks.
Kuleba said that this should include preparations for economic sanctions against Russia in case it “decides to choose the worst-case scenario,” adding that NATO should also strengthen military and defense cooperation with Ukraine.
Kuleba said: “We believe that if we work together in a coordinated manner, we will be able to deter President Putin and make him reluctant to choose the worst case scenario, which is military action.”
As far as Stoltenberg is concerned, he reiterated his warning on Wednesday that any future Russian aggression against Ukraine will pay a “high price” and cause serious political and economic consequences for Moscow.
The 30 NATO allies together account for more than 50% of the global economy.
Stoltenberg told reporters in Riga: “We have many options to ensure that if Russia again uses force against the independent sovereign country Ukraine, they will face serious consequences.”
“From economic sanctions, financial sanctions, political restrictions, and everything we saw after the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014… this actually triggered the greatest strengthening of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War,” Stolten Berg said.
“We don’t know whether President Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine,” said U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken, but added that “if Russia invades Ukraine… we will be prepared to take action,” including high-level economic sanctions and other measures.
Brinken emphasized that it is important for Russia to understand this and added that the United States will ensure that Ukraine has the means to defend itself.
“We have seen this script when Russia last invaded Ukraine in 2004, and now they have significantly increased their combat power near the border,” Brinken said.
He added: “Back then, as now, they reinforced false information, claiming that Ukraine was the aggressor of a reasonably planned military operation.”
Brinken will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Stockholm on Thursday.
EU Chief Diplomat Joseph Borrell, who participated in the Riga joint meeting, told reporters that “for the EU, Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty are above all else”.
“In the face of any attempt to undermine its territorial integrity and sovereignty, we will stand firmly and decisively with Ukraine,” he added.
NATO road barriers in Ukraine
Some NATO diplomats expressed anger at Budapest’s mixed messages during the ministerial meeting.
(Editing by Georgi Getoff)
