[ad_1]
Jens Stoltenberg rejected Russia’s withdrawal from the West’s invitation to join Ukraine in a military alliance.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has rejected calls for Ukraine to withdraw from its 2008 commitment to join the Western military alliance in 2008.
Statements were made on Friday by the Russian Foreign Ministry that NATO had to formally suspend its 2008 declaration on membership of Georgia and Ukraine, two former Soviet republics.
“NATO’s relationship with Ukraine will be decided by 30 NATO allies and Ukraine, not anyone else,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Friday.
Russia seized the Crimean region of Ukraine in 2014 while supporting separatist rebels in the country’s eastern Donbas region. Russian troops occupy two refugee regions in Georgia.
In recent weeks, Russia has moved on 100,000 soldiers at the Ukrainian border, Sounding the alarm at Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr zelenskyy Talking to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for days. The US president asked the Russian leader taking the path of diplomacy to relieve the situation or face harsh economic sanctions.
In a two-hour debate, Putin demanded that the West ensure that Ukraine does not become a NATO base.
Zelenskyy said Biden had given Russia a guarantee that Moscow would not cause a rise.
On Friday, the Ukrainian president said he did not rule out holding a referendum on the future state of war-torn eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula.
“I don’t rule out the Donbas referendum in general,” Zelenskyy told 1 + 1 TV. “It could be about Donbass, it could be about Crimea, it could be about ending the war in general,” he said. “So maybe someone, this or that country can offer us some conditions.”
‘Right to choose’
Meanwhile, the European Union warned Russia on Friday that it would face the consequences if it invaded Ukraine, as the new German chancellor called for talks to resolve tensions over Moscow’s military force.
“The attack must come at a price, which is why we will inform Russia in advance of these points,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint press conference with Olaf Scholz.
Ukraine accuses Russia of plotting a large-scale military offensive. The Kremlin refuses to plan any attacks.
Earlier, during a visit to France, Scholz called for a resumption of talks in the “Normandy format” between Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine to resolve the crisis.
“We are very concerned about the troops we are seeing on the Ukrainian border, which is why it is important for Europe to be firm in this area and to make it clear that Europe’s borders are intangible,” Scholz said in a joint press conference with President Charles Michel. Of the European Council of the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a meeting with Scholz after a U.S. intelligence assessment that a multi-front offensive could be possible against Ukraine in Russia next year had already warned of the danger of self-fulfillment of prophecies.
[ad_2]
Source link
