On Tuesday, Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg told Christiane Amanpour of CNN that NATO would send a written proposal to Russia later this week in an effort to find a way forward amid mounting tensions over the troops’ build-up of Russia on the border of Ukraine. Stoltenberg said they would highlight that they agree to discuss transparency on military activities, arms control, risk reduction mechanisms, demilitarization, and others relevant to European security.
NATO Secretary-General states that the alliance will send a written proposal to Russia in an effort to find a way ahead amid rising fears over the Russian military troop buildup on the Ukrainian border. The written proposal will outline talks on arms control pic.twitter.com/LPyecqAx8x
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Last week, the chief civil servant of NATO said that the Western military coalition would soon send its written proposals to Moscow, responding to the security demands of Moscow and suggesting critical discussions on the measure of transparency on military activities, arms control, and missile deployments. His remarks came one day after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization announced that some member nations were putting forces on standby and sending more fighter jets and ships to Eastern Europe.
Furthermore, the moves signified growing concerns of a potential attack of Ukraine, following some months of military strategy by Moscow that set off retaliatory series of escalations with allied forces. Stoltenberg said there is still a diplomatic approach to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Still, it requires that Russia de-escalates its power approach and settles to engage in political dialogs with NATO and its allies in good faith.
The Kremlin Denied the Allegations to Attack Ukraine
Since last year, Moscow deployed around 100000 troops on its border with Ukraine and is sending forces into neighboring Belarus for joint military exercises in February that Ukrainian officials raised concerns that it could be severe as a full-fledged theater of operations from which to launch an attack. But Russia repeatedly denied the accusations about its plans to attack Ukraine. However, it argued that NATO support for the nation fuels a mounting threat on the western border of Russia.
The NATO chief told CNN that NATO would not deploy fighting troops to Ukraine. Still, it needs to be sure that there is no misinterpretation about NATO’s commitment to defend all allies and readiness, especially in the eastern part of the coalition. Further, he explained that NATO increased its presence in the eastern region of the alliance, Baltic regions, and in the Black Sea because of these reasons.
Source: Web
NATO counties Deployments to Eastern Europe
In a Monday statement, NATO said that member countries announced several deployments to Eastern Europe in recent days. These member states include:
- Denmark to send four F-16 fighter aircraft to Lithuania and a warship to the Baltic Sea
- The Netherlands to deploy two F-35 fighter jets to Bulgaria
- France considering sending troops to Romania
- The United States to increase its military presence in the East
The statement doesn’t clarify assisting Ukraine with military support, which is not a NATO member. The NATO chief also said that the organization was considering whether to increase its presence further with battlegroups or enhanced forward presence in the southeast of the NATO. He added that stable deterrence is the key to preventing any invasion of any NATO member and the best way to avoid a conflict.
Earlier this month, High-level dialogs between Russia and the Best wrapped without any breakthroughs, leaving chances of de-escalation and future diplomacy in doubt., NATO allies and the United States hoped the discussions could steer Russia to pursue a path of diplomacy and de-escalation.
On the other hand, Russian officials were angered over NATO and the U.S. refusal to entertain a controversial list of security demands. Russian demands include a ban on Ukraine entering the NATO alliance and that the organization rolls back its expansion in Eastern Europe. In addition, the United States and NATO allies frequently said such proposals from Russia are non-starters.
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