NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has rejected Russian needs to rescind a 2008 dedication to Ukraine that the united states might in the future emerge as a member of the Western army alliance.
The comments got here on Friday after Russia’s overseas ministry stated that NATO ought to officially scrap a 2008 assertion to provide club to Georgia and Ukraine, former Soviet republics.
“NATO’s relations with Ukraine are decided by the 30 NATO allies and Ukraine, no one else,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Friday. Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014 while allegedly supporting separatist rebels in the eastern Donbass region. Russian troops also occupy two separatist regions of Georgia.
In recent weeks, Russia has moved around 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border, sounding the alarm bells in Washington and at NATO headquarters in Brussels. On Thursday, US President Joe Biden met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy a few days after meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The US president urged the Russian leader to take the path of diplomacy to reduce the situation or face severe economic sanctions.
During the two-hour discussion, Putin demanded that the West ensure that Ukraine does not become a stepping stone for NATO. Zelenskyy said Biden aired The Russian Assurances that Moscow would not cause an escalation.
The Ukrainian president on Friday said he would not rule out a referendum on the future status of war-torn eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. “I am not ruling out a referendum on the Donbass in general,” Zelenskyy told 1 + 1 television.
“It could concern Donbass, it could concern Crimea, it could concern the end of the war in general,” he said. “So it could be that someone, such and such a country can offer us certain conditions.
Meanwhile, the European Union warned Russia of the consequences of invading Ukraine on Friday when the new German Chancellor called for talks to resolve tensions following the Moscow military rally. “Aggression has to have its price, which is why we will communicate these points to Russia in advance,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a joint press conference with Olaf Scholz.
Ukraine accuses Russia of preparing for a possible large-scale military offensive. The Kremlin denies planning any attacks. Earlier today, during a visit to France, Scholz called for a revival of “Norman format” talks between Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine to resolve the crisis.
“We are deeply concerned about the troops we see along the Ukrainian border, which is why it is important that Europe remains firm in this area and clearly shows that Europe’s borders are inviolable,” said Scholz at a later press conference with Charles Michel. , President of the European Council of the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned during his meeting with Scholz of the risk of self-fulfilling prophecies following a US intelligence assessment that a multi-front Russian offensive against Ukraine could take place as early as l ‘next year.
