Antony Blinken says Putin’s decision to suspend New Start nuclear treaty between Russia and US was ‘irresponsible’

United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blink regretted the announcement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he suspended his participation in the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty.

“Russia’s announcement that it will suspend its participation in New start it is deeply unfortunate and irresponsible,” Blinken told reporters traveling with him on Tuesday. Greece.

Blinken said the United States was “ready to talk about strategic arms limitations at any time with Russia, regardless of anything happening in the world or in our relationship.”

“We will ensure that we position ourselves appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies,” Blinken warned. The Secretary of State indicated that the treaty is beneficial for the security of the United States and Russia and leaves the door open for future discussions.

For his part, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenbergassured on Tuesday that “No one is attacking Russia” and regretted that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is preparing for more war” a a year after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

“Nobody is attacking Russia. Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim of aggression,” Stoltenberg said in a statement to the press with the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba.

The three politicians met today at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance on the same day Putin gave a state of the nation address to both houses of parliament, his first since April 2021, in which he accused West of wanting to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia in Ukraine and end it “once and for all”.

For Stoltenberg, “it was President Putin who started this war of imperial conquest” and “it is Putin who continues to escalate the war”.

“A year after the Russian invasion, we see no signs that President Putin is preparing for peace. On the contrary, as he made clear today, he is preparing for more war,” the Norwegian politician stressed.

Stoltenberg insisted that the Russian president “is preparing for more offensives, mobilizing more troops and sending more weapons”.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell shake hands during a press conference at Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 21, 2023.

“This is exactly why we need to step up our support for Ukraine, because it will be a tragedy for Ukrainians but also dangerous for all of us if Putin wins in Ukraine,” he said.

“It’s a war of choice, it’s a war of aggression. Russia has decided to invade neighboring Ukraine and, of course, Ukraine has the right to defend itself,” he said. concluded.

Stoltenberg also claimed that the I WILL TAKE “is increasingly concerned” that China “may consider providing lethal support” to Russia, and felt that such a move would be “dangerous for our own security and for the whole world”.

DrunkFor his part, he said that “everything China has done and will continue to do in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine, if we put aside political rhetoric and look at actions, must focus on defense of the principle of territorial integrity”. . »

Borrell He said that despite China’s assurances that it would not supply warring countries with weapons as part of its foreign policy, “we must remain vigilant”.

Regarding the support of EU in Kyiv to help you acquire weapons, Borrell was in favor of using the European Peace Support Fund What the twenty seven have been used since the beginning of the war for this purpose, and asked member states for “political will” to contribute more money.

Precisely, EU foreign ministers yesterday they discussed Estonia’s plan to jointly purchase ammunition worth 4 billion euros.

“This is another proof that what Russia is doing is tearing down the security system that was built after the end of the Cold War,” he said. Borrell.

The high representative of the European Unionurged the Twenty-Seven to continue to share their stocks of artillery ammunition with Ukraine, while preparing a proposal to jointly place new orders.

“It is clear that we must put procedures in place to increase the capacity of European industry to produce more and faster,” Borrell told a press conference after a Council of EU foreign ministers, when he was about a year after the Russian invasion.

“But it is also clear that, in the coming weeks, the best way to supply Ukraine with ammunition is to share the already existing ammunition stocks of European armies. We don’t have to wait for them to happen,” said the Spanish politician before the escalation of fighting expected this spring in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg noted that “we must make it clear that Ukraine’s future is within the Euro-Atlantic family”, and noted that when the war is over, it will be necessary to create long-term arrangements for the Ukrainian security, in order to guarantee that Russia “does not continue to undermine European security” and “to break the cycle of Russian aggression”.

“So NATO will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes and we will continue to work closely with the European Union for that,” he said.