NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg hoped on Monday 10 January that the NATO-Russia Council on Wednesday 12 January, as well as the US-Russia meetings on 10 January and the OSCE meeting on 13 January, could help launch a process of appeasement.
“What we hope is that we can agree on the way forward. That we can agree on a series of meetings, agree on the process. It is not realistic to expect that when we finish this week, when we finish the meetings that are all scheduled, that the problems will be solved”, he explained after a meeting with Ukrainian Minister Olha Stefanishyna and before a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.
Mr Stoltenberg hoped that there would be a real willingness on both sides to engage in a process that could prevent a new armed conflict in Europe, saying that this willingness existed on the Alliance’s side.
The Secretary-General considered that a political solution had to be found, avoiding an armed conflict. “But we must be prepared for Russia to once again choose to use armed force, to choose confrontation over cooperation”, he warned. Mr Stoltenberg recalled that any Russian aggression would have a severe political and economic cost.
According to the Secretary-General, Wednesday’s NATO-Russia Council meeting should focus on European security issues, transparency in military activities, risk reduction and arms control. “We will listen to Russia’s concerns, but any meaningful dialogue must also address our concerns about their actions”, he added.
While Russia is in talks with the US and the Alliance, Ms Stefanishyna warned that “nothing about Ukraine should be done without Ukraine”. According to Mr Stoltenberg, the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission is a “timely opportunity” to exchange assessments of the situation, express the Allies’ strong political and practical support for Ukraine and coordinate future diplomatic engagements with Russia. He said that NATO was actively consulting with Finland, Sweden and the EU, among others.
“We must all realise that Russian demands to the Allies cannot be considered a negotiating position. The aggressor is not in a position to set conditions until the Russian tanks leave the Ukrainian border”, the Ukrainian minister stressed, adding that Russia was trying to impose its agenda rather than return to the negotiating table.
The NATO Secretary General recalled Ukraine’s right to defend itself and that NATO would support the country “in helping to enforce this right to self-defence”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)