The European Union and NATO on Thursday reiterated their support for Ukraine, which is threatened by a military build-up of Russia, a neighboring country with which it has been in conflict since 2014.
In a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell again called on Moscow to “de-escalate” and respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“He stressed that any new military attack on Ukraine would have massive consequences and significant costs,” he said in a statement issued in Brussels tonight.
For his part, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had telephone conversations on Ukraine with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, German Chancellor Angela Burbock and British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
On his Twitter account, Stoltenberg said he had discussed with them the implications of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis for the security of allies.
“We will do what we have to do to ensure the security and defense of all NATO allies, while remaining open to dialogue with Russia,” Stoltenberg warned.
Earlier, Washington had mentioned the conversation between Jens Stoltenberg and Anthony Blinken, insisting that NATO remained “ready for a constructive dialogue” with Moscow.
The United States is ready to “start a diplomatic dialogue” with Russia “from the beginning of January”, but not without conditions, a high-ranking White House official announced today. A move welcomed by Moscow.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had sharpened the tone, calling for a “military and technical response” if its Western opponents did not end their threatening policies.
In a gesture that breaks with the generally confidential nature of diplomatic talks, Russia has presented two draft treaties to ban any NATO enlargement, especially in Ukraine, and to end Western military activity near the Russian border.
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