NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed Russia’s request for a public NATO statement rejecting Ukraine’s membership on Thursday 17 February.
“The door to NATO remains open. Any decision on membership in the Alliance is a matter for the Allies and the candidate countries. No one else”, warned Mr Stoltenberg at the end of the second day of the NATO Defence Ministers’ meeting.
As on the previous day (see EUROPE 12892/16), the Secretary-General returned to the situation on the Ukrainian border, saying that so far there was no sign of a withdrawal of Russian troops or of de-escalation. “On the contrary, Russia’s capacity building seems to be continuing”, he added, calling on Moscow to do what it announced and withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s borders. According to Mr Stoltenberg, “this will be an important first step towards a peaceful political solution”.
The Secretary-General also expressed concern about reports of artillery fire in Stanytsia Luhanska, (northeastern Ukraine, along the Line of Contact), as there have been Russian attempts in the past “to stage a pretext, in order to provide an excuse for invading Ukraine”.
Mr Stoltenberg warned again that Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent entities would be “a further blatant violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and of the Minsk agreements, undermining efforts to find a political solution in the Normandy format”.
The Secretary-General also recalled the Alliance’s political and practical support for Ukraine. “NATO and the Allies are helping Ukraine to strengthen its ability to defend itself. Self-defence is a right enshrined in the UN Charter, and the Allies are helping Ukraine to uphold this right”, he stressed. Mr Stoltenberg recalled that the Allies were providing military trainers and equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces, expertise in cyber-espionage and intelligence, and substantial financial support. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)