NATO Chief: No Compromise On Core Principles As Alliance Prepares For Talks With Russia
According to RFE/RL, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has pledged to engage "in good faith and on substance" in talks with Russia next week, but he said the alliance will not compromise on core principles, including the right of nations to decide whether they want to join.
Stoltenberg spoke at a press conference on January 7 in Brussels after a videoconference of NATO foreign ministers, saying the meeting had stressed "that any further aggression against Ukraine would have significant consequences and carry a heavy price for Russia."
But he appeared to dismiss a key Russian demand on NATO expansion.
“We will not compromise on core principles, including the right for every nation to decide its own path, including what kind of security arrangements it wants to be a part of,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
Stoltenberg also said a Russian military buildup near Ukraine has continued.
"We see armored units, we see artillery, we see combat ready troops, we see electronic warfare equipment, and we see a lot of different military capabilities,” he said.
The buildup, combined with Russia's security demands, and its track record in Ukraine and Georgia, "sends a message that there is a real risk for a new armed conflict in Europe,” Stoltenberg said.
The U.S. Mission to NATO said earlier that NATO’s 30 members were united against Russian military action in Ukraine.
"Ahead of the forthcoming NATO-Russia Council, they underlined the need for diplomacy, dialogue, and de-escalation," the mission said on Twitter.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics echoed the U.S. mission’s comments, saying on Twitter the alliance is “ready to engage in dialogue with Russia but not at the expense of our values or key principles."
The foreign ministers held the videoconference amid Western warnings about tens of thousands of Russian troops amassed near the border and with Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding guarantees that NATO won't allow Kyiv to join the transatlantic military alliance.
Ukraine, which has been fighting a war with Russia-backed separatists in its east since Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, has repeatedly asserted its strategic and foreign policy goal of NATO membership since the alliance promised eventual full membership in 2008.
Moscow has responded by accusing the United States of destabilizing the Black Sea and other nearby regions and saying its troop movements are an internal matter.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on January 6 about "risk reduction near Ukraine’s borders," according to the Pentagon.
The NATO foreign ministers’ meeting was the first in a flurry of high-level talks involving NATO, senior U.S. and Russian officials, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) over the next week.
