ITS SECRETARY GENERAL, STOLTENBERG, AND THE GERMAN LEADER, SCHOLZ, SPEAK OF THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COST
BERLIN – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday in Berlin ruled out a military response in the event of Russian aggression against Ukraine. “There will be a high political cost, a high economic cost if there is an intervention and the principle of territorial integrity is violated,” Scholz said at a joint press conference in Berlin when asked by a journalist if he contemplated a military response.
Stoltenberg stressed that the Alliance has sent a message to Russia that if it chooses “violence” it will face a “high price” politically and financially, noting that NATO states will support Ukraine in maintaining its right to self-defense.
“On the front line, it is now a question of making progress on the political front,” said the NATO secretary general, who announced that yesterday he sent invitations to representatives of Russia and allied countries to hold meetings that serve to “improve the lines of communication”. “Tension is high and that is why dialogue is especially important. That is why we will do everything possible to reach a political solution,” he added.
Regarding the approval of the commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, controlled by the Russian giant Gazprom, the German chancellor refused an express statement that an attack on Ukraine would mean the end of the project. When asked, however, he asserted that “everything must be discussed in the event of a military intervention” by Russia, which must have a “high cost” in such a case and pointed out that both his Government and the former German Executive They have communicated “very clearly” to the United States their way of proceeding with respect to Nord Stream 2.
With regard to the German refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine, reaffirmed last Monday in Kiev by the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, Scholz stressed that Germany has been following “for a long time” the strategy of not exporting lethal weapons, something in which The change of government has not influenced.
For his part, Stoltenberg argued that there are NATO members who are willing to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, since there are different points of view on the matter, although he himself avoided taking a position. “NATO supports Ukraine, we support it politically in practice, supporting its defense institutions, for example with training and improving the capabilities of its navy,” he said.
THE US INSISTS ON DIPLOMACY In this context, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, insisted yesterday before his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the importance of continuing the diplomatic path to reduce tension over Ukraine.
Both held a telephone call in which they valued the meetings held last week between Russia and the United States and their allies on the crisis in Ukraine, the State Department reported in a statement.
Blinken reiterated to Lavrov Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In addition, he stressed that any discussion on security in Europe must include NATO allies and European partners, including Kiev. Blinken will travel to Ukraine today, where he will meet with the president of that country, Volodímir Zelenski, and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, to discuss the Russian threat.
Last Friday, Washington accused Moscow of trying to orchestrate a fake attack on the Russian troops to create a pretext to invade or enter Ukraine.
For his part, Lavrov urged Blinken “not to replicate the speculation about an alleged Russian aggression and to force the Ukrainian authorities to implement all of the Minsk agreements.”