NATO countries must intensify their military aid to the Government of Volodymyr Zelensky in order to “change trajectory” of the war, which is currently favorable to Russia, and to do so “once and for all”. The ultimate goal is not so much for Ukraine to win, but rather for it to reach an eventual negotiating table with Moscow in a “position of strength.”
This is the message conveyed by the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutteat the end of the two-day meeting of the foreign ministers of the 32 member states held in Brussels. The most urgent needs for kyiv are ammunition and air defenses, has pointed out.
“Ukraine is facing relentless shelling of civilian areas and critical infrastructure. And Russia is making progress on the front line, albeit at a high cost. This could be the most difficult winter for Ukraine since 2022“admits the head of NATO.
“We have to do more than just keeping Ukraine in the fight. We must provide sufficient support to change the trajectory of this conflict once and for all,” Rutte highlighted at the final press conference to report on the results of the meeting of Alliance foreign ministers.
“Changing the trajectory means that we want put Ukraine in a position of strengthso that one day the Ukrainian government can engage in talks with the Russians about how to end this conflict. But it must be the Ukrainian Government that decides that, and it should do so from a position of strength,” says the Secretary General.
“Changing the trajectory means that, where now the front line is moving westward“We have to make sure that Ukraine is in a position of strength, so that in those negotiations, Ukraine can get what it wants, and we can prevent Putin from getting what he wanted when he began his all-out attack on Ukraine.”
However, Rutte has returned to procrastinate to the request of the Zelensky Government to receive a Immediate invitation to join NATOwhich in the opinion of Ukrainians is the only guarantee of security against Russia. “The allies agree that the first priority now must be that Ukraine is in that position, that they can begin negotiations from that position of strength with the Russians,” he responded.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, talks with the outgoing US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, during the NATO meeting this Wednesday in Brussels
Of course, the secretary general of the Alliance has launched a new appeal (without naming him directly) to the president-elect donald trump to maintain its support for Ukraine. Their argument is that this conflict is not a strictly European problem, but could also end up affecting the United States.
“The growing alignment of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran highlights the global nature of the threats we face. Including the growing risks of war in Ukraine. In exchange for troops and weapons, Russia is lending South Korea North support for its nuclear and missile programs. These developments could destabilize the Korean peninsula and even threaten the United States. Therefore, Russia’s illegal war threatens us all“he argued.
At the same time, Rutte assures that Trump is right to ask NATO countries to increase their defense spending. The Secretary General agrees that military investment must rise above 2% of GDP in order to guarantee the security of all allied territory in the long term.
At the meeting concluded this Wednesday in Brussels, the Alliance’s foreign ministers agreed on a package of measures to counter Russia’s growing sabotage maneuvers in NATO territory. Among them, intensify intelligence exchangesconduct more exercises, strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure, improve cyber defense and act against Russia’s shadow fleet of oil export ships.
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