Stoltenberg: NATO will not go beyond its principles
According to IRNA on Wednesday night, quoted by Reuters; The Secretary General of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) added: “We will not compromise on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any European country.”
Rejecting Moscow’s request for a guarantee from NATO that Ukraine would not pledge membership, he said: “This is true of the right of all countries to determine and choose their own security arrangements.”
Stoltenberg threatened Moscow that if it used force against Ukraine, it would be possible to further strengthen NATO forces in Eastern European countries.
“If Russia uses force against Ukraine again and attacks it again, we will seriously consider the need to further increase our military presence in the eastern part of the coalition,” he said.
He also warned of the real danger of a new armed conflict in Europe, although NATO would take all possible steps to prevent it.
According to the NATO Secretary General, the organization has offered Russia that it is ready to plan a series of meetings on a number of issues, such as limiting the use of missiles in Europe, but Moscow has clearly stated that it is not ready to do so.
Stoltenberg also said that the two sides had open and transparent talks on many issues and that the meeting was fruitful.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Groshko and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin are chairing the Moscow delegation to today’s NATO-Russia Council meeting, which is being held for the first time in two years. US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will also be present at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
According to the Associated Press, the meeting coincides with a week of sensitive diplomatic efforts and other measures to prevent what Washington sees as a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow has rejected.
The NATO-Russia Council, the main meeting for the two sides, was established two decades ago, but all-round meetings with all members were suspended following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to Russia in 2014, and only separate meetings have been held since then. The last one was in 2019.
The Russian Foreign Ministry last month released a list of its demands for the United States and NATO ahead of ongoing talks between Washington and Moscow officials. Russia has called on the United States and NATO not to include Ukraine in NATO and to reduce its military presence in Eastern Europe. Moscow has also asked the United States not to build any military bases in countries that are former members of the Soviet Union and are not part of NATO.
The United States has not agreed to any of these demands. However, US officials say the administration of US President Joe Biden is willing to discuss some of the concerns raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Talks between Russian and US officials began in Geneva on January 20, focusing on the issue of security guarantees proposed by Moscow. However, various media outlets have reported that the talks have not yielded significant results so far and are set to continue in the coming days in Brussels and Vienna.
Strategic Security Talks between Russia and the United States on January 10, 2022, the NATO-Russia Council Meeting on January 12, and the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on January 13 (December 23), including measures to reduce It is held by bilateral tensions.
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