Tension in Ukraine: NATO believes Russia is “challenging” it

The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, considered this Wednesday that the risk of conflict in Ukraine is “real” and Europe is facing the “most dangerous moment for its security in generations”, and warned that Russia it is “challenging” the Alliance with its attitude on the eastern border of Europe.

SIGHT: Putin’s “threatening” speech in which he questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty

Stoltenberg pointed out, in a virtual speech during a seminar organized by the Netherlands on the future of NATOthat “the risk of conflict is real” and explained that “Moscow is challenging its fundamental security principles, such as NATO’s right to protect and defend its allies and the right of every nation to choose its path”, in reference to the debate on Ukraine’s entry into NATO.

“Today we face the most dangerous moment for European security in generations. Ukraine, our highly valued partner, remains under imminent threat from Russia. NATO Allies are united in full support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine’s sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders,” he summarized.

• What Putin is looking for in Ukraine and 6 other questions about the crisis with Russia
• What satellite images show about the movements of the Russian army on the border with Ukraine
• What is NATO and why Russia mistrusts the organization in the conflict in Ukraine

Faced with this situation, he said, “strong political, practical and financial support will continue to be provided to help Ukraine build its defense capabilities” and to “defend its right to legitimate defense.”

Moscow “is showing strength and issuing ultimatums not only to redraw the borders in Europe, but also to try to rewrite the entire global security architecture,” added Stoltenberg, who considered that the crisis in Ukraine “underlines the importance of cooperating” with partners in the NATO to defend “shared values ​​and security”.

“We are faced with a fundamental question about the world we want to live in: one in which the great powers dictate what others do with aggression and ultimatums, or a world in which everyone is free to choose their own path, able to live in freedom and democracy. This is the world we want and for which we are working,” he added.

The alliances of NATO with other countries are “essential to preserve peace, promote stability and increase security for all” and that relationship is “a two-way street” in an “increasingly disputed and competitive world,” he said.

“After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the alliances with the NATO they have helped spread freedom, democracy and security in Europe. Since the 1990s, the operating partners of the NATO They have helped increase stability beyond our borders and continue to be essential to continue adapting to an increasingly dangerous and competitive world.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also spoke at the seminar, noting that Russia “is threatening war on Europe’s eastern border in an unprecedented move” and calling it a “serious escalation and flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” the recognition of the pro-Russian republics of Donetsk and Lugansk by Moscow.

“It is certainly a threat to Ukraine, but it is also a threat to European and international security (…) We must be clear: there are no old and new members, Western or Eastern, first or second class. We are all allies of the NATO and we position ourselves together as one”, he warned.

The head of the Dutch government recalled that in 2014 “we have witnessed the occupation of Crimea” and now Russia has shown that “it is prepared to take more aggressive steps” and that is “unacceptable”.

Rutte explained that the NATO it is “essential to defend our security and freedom” in the European Union and continues to be “the cornerstone of our defense and the basis of our collective security policy”, and more so in a “new global reality”, he stressed.

“The reality is that the EU relies heavily on NATO and our transatlantic allies for our security. We are not in a position to create an equal and independent alternative, nor should we try. But we do need to make sure that the EU can do more for itself, that it can show more readiness and resolve when it comes to security and defence,” Rutte added.

• Will Putin and Biden be able to reach a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis?
• NATO condemns Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk
• European Union announces sanctions against Russia for recognition of Donbas
• What is Donbas, the bone of contention between Ukraine and Russia?
• Russia made a list of Ukrainians who must be killed or captured, according to the United States

Source: Elcomercio

Deshawn