Jens Stoltenberg rejected Russia’s call for Western powers to withdraw their call for Ukraine to join the war effort.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has rejected Russia’s call for a ceasefire in Ukraine in 2008 that one day the country will become a member of the Western military alliance.
The remarks came Friday after Russia’s foreign ministry announced that NATO should officially suspend its 2008 declaration of membership in Georgia and Ukraine, two former Soviet republics.
“NATO relations with Ukraine will be decided by 30 NATO allies and Ukraine, no one else,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Friday.
Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014 by claiming to be supporting separatist militants in the eastern Donbas region. The Russian army is also occupying the two main divisions of Georgia.
In the past few weeks, Russia has moved on 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border, bells ringing in Washington and at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr zelenskyy a few days after talking to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The US president has backed a Russian leader taking a diplomacy approach to solving the problem or facing severe financial penalties.
In a two-hour talks, Putin called on the West to reassure Ukraine that it was not NATO’s cause.
Zelenskyy said Biden had given Russian guarantees that Moscow would not start the climb.
On Friday, the Ukrainian president said he had not decided to hold a referendum on the future of war in eastern Ukraine and the Crimea peninsula.
“I’m not blocking the referendum on all the Donbas,” Zelenskyy told 1 + 1 television. “Then maybe someone, this or that country can give us some things.”
‘Freedom of choice’
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) on Friday warned Russia of the consequences of its invasion of Ukraine, with the new German Chancellor calling for talks to end the conflict in Moscow.
“Anger has to come at a high price, so we will discuss these issues soon in Russia,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference with Olaf Scholz.
Ukraine criticizes Russia for preparing for a major war. The Kremlin refuses to prepare for any attack.
Earlier, on a trip to France, Scholz called for a resumption of “Normandy format” negotiations between Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine in order to resolve the issue.
“We are very concerned about the troops we see on the Ukrainian border, which is why it is important for Europe to be strong in the region and to make it clear that Europe’s borders will not be damaged,” Scholz said at a press conference later with Charles Michel, President. and the European Council of the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned in a meeting with Scholz that there was a danger of self-fulfillment prophecy after exploring US intelligence that Ukraine and Russia’s attacks could happen next year.
