NATO members urged each other on Tuesday not to give up support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, at a time when doubts remain over US support and the lack of adequate support from the West could lead Kiev to seek a compromise with Russian President Vladimir. Putin from a position of weakness. “We just have to stay the course. This also has to do with our security interests,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday during a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who attended the meeting, stated that these NATO talks aimed to “strongly reaffirm our support for Ukraine as the country continues to face Russia’s war of aggression.” The United States has already provided more than $40 billion (about €36.5 billion) in security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion and has committed to supporting Kiev for as long as necessary. However, the backlash from radical Republicans has put the future of U.S. aid in doubt.
But even in this scenario, Stoltenberg guaranteed that he was “confident” that the United States would continue to arm Ukraine. “It is in the interest of the security of the United States to do this and it is also in line with what we agreed to,” he said.
NATO’s secretary general also pointed to recent commitments from Germany and the Netherlands worth 10 billion euros as evidence that the alliance remains committed to supporting Kiev. “Even though the front line did not move that much, the Ukrainians still managed to inflict heavy losses on the Russian forces,” he recalled.
Plan for membership
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, also in Brussels, said he “doesn’t feel any pressure” from Kiev’s supporters to start negotiations with Russia.
In line with this speech, German diplomat leader Annalena Baerbock argued that the need to support Ukraine “is not about whether Ukraine can make any military progress, but about saving people.” His French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, said Kiev is facing some of the heaviest air attacks since the start of the war. “We underline our support for Ukraine, which must of course continue in the long term.”
Kuleba and his NATO counterparts are expected to agree today on a reform plan aimed at helping Ukraine eventually join the alliance.
Also in Brussels, the European Parliament on Tuesday insisted on the need for Ukraine to make progress in the process of joining the European Union and on the commitment of the 27 to support the country in defending against the Russian invasion.
This commitment was reflected last Tuesday in the announcement that the European Union agreed to more than quadruple its spending on training Ukrainian soldiers in the fight against Russia, investing almost 200 million additional euros. The bloc has so far trained 34,000 Ukrainians for the front line.
The now announced financing increases the amount of the EU Peace Mechanism’s Central European Training Fund by 194 million euros, to 255 million in total, Brussels said in a statement, adding that they aim to reach the number of 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers who have been trained by the European Union. Union in the near future.
Boycott Russia
Ukraine and the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) announced on Tuesday a boycott of the next ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) due to the presence of the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov.
This meeting of the foreign ministers of the 57 OSCE countries will take place tomorrow and Friday in North Macedonia. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend, but there are no indications of a meeting with Lavrov.
With agencies
Source: DN
