(Brussels) NATO is worried about the “real” risk of conflict in Ukraine with continued Russian military reinforcement at its borders, and must prepare for a diplomatic failure, the Alliance’s secretary general warned on Friday. 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 Mr. 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.
“There is no question that NATO will 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 a part,” said Jens Stoltenberg.
PHOTO OLEKSANDR GIMANOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
A meeting of the foreign ministers of the Alliance countries was organized by videoconference to establish positions before a long diplomatic sequence. Above, the French frigate Auvergne arriving in Odessa Bay, a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea, on December 24, 2021.
US-Russian talks are due to open Monday in Geneva to defuse the risk of Russian intervention in Ukraine. Moscow has also agreed to participate in a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Wednesday, the first since the summer of 2019. “It is a positive signal because 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.
His Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau for his part affirmed that “the talks with Russia cannot take place in a situation of escalation towards Ukraine and NATO”.
NATO will not intervene
“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”.
“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,” French President Emmanuel insisted on Friday. Macron during a meeting in Paris with members of the European Commission chaired by the German Ursula von der Leyen.
“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,” stressed Jens Stoltenberg, recalling that NATO had a rapid reaction force of 40,000 men.