NATO’s new strategic concept will take into account the
\nchallenges and concerns we face now, including those related to Russia and
\nterrorism, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a NATO meeting in Riga.
\nThe build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine was top of the list
\nof the talks in Latvia, where participating foreign ministers voiced concern with
\nregard to the worsening of the security situation in the NATO’s Eastern Neighbourhood
\nand in the Black Sea region. We don’t
\nknow whether President Putin has made the decision to invade. We do know that
\nhe’s putting in place the capacity to do so in short order, should he so
\ndecide, said secretary Blinken. Emphasizing that diplomacy is the
\nonly responsible way of solving this possible crisis, he also gave assurances
\nthat NATO is prepared to consolidate its defence on the eastern flank. Russia
\nalso risks tough economic sanctions if the Russian troops invade Ukraine. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
NATO hopes to avoid a conflict with Russia, NATO
\nSecretary General Jens Stoltenberg told
\nthe CNN. The task is to prevent that from happening. That’s first of all
\nthe reason why we call Russia to stop its aggressive actions against Ukraine,
\nhe said. Russia, which rejects allegations from Kiev and western officials that
\nit plans to invade neighbouring Ukraine, wants firm guarantees that NATO’s eastward
\nenlargement is over and wants a legally binding agreement in this regard. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian
\nforeign minister Bogdan Aurescu, who also attended the NATO meeting in Riga,
\ndescribed the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea area as worrying and
\nhighlighted the implications of these developments on the stability of the entire
\neuro-Atlantic region. He also called for the consolidation of the allied defence
\nand deterrence posture on the eastern flank, from north to south, in a coherent,
\nbalanced and unitary manner, including in the Black Sea. He emphasised the need
\nto intensify support and assistance for NATO’s eastern allies and called for the
\ncontinuation of the alliance’s open-door policy. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Another subject
\ndiscussed was that of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. Minister
\nAurescu said that as far as Romania is concerned, arms control should be
\ncomplementary to the defence and deterrence posture. He also reiterated his country’s
\nsolidarity with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, which are facing a tough hybrid
\ncampaign from the Lukashenko regime in Belarus. (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Allied foreign ministers meeting in Riga talked about the latest developments in NATOs Eastern Neighbourhood and in the Black Sea area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":90486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[13794],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-90485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-nato"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n