NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg stated that if Russia prefers an armed conflict in Ukraine, NATO will respond. He said that if he chose to do so, NATO would respond. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United States and NATO were not responding to Russia’s basic security demands.
Speaking on Friday at an event organized by the US-based think tank Atlantic Council, Stoltenberg said, “As NATO, we are ready for political talks. However, we are ready to respond if Russia prefers an armed conflict. “We are ready for both options,” he said. Stating that they “worked hard” to achieve “the best possible peaceful political outcome”, Stoltenberg stated that they also prepared themselves for “the worst outcome”.
Cyber attack probability
Tensions continue to escalate between Russia and the Western Alliance after Russia’s deployment of more than 100,000 troops to regions close to the Ukrainian border raised concerns between the US and NATO allies that Russia would invade Ukraine. While the US and NATO are responding to Moscow’s demands on Ukraine and security issues, it is not yet known what Russia will decide on this issue.
The NATO Secretary-General said Russia could respond on a “broad scale”, from a cyberattack to an attempted coup in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, with the aim of overthrowing the government. “That’s why Russia needs to be prepared for a wide range of different forms or aggressive activities against Ukraine,” said Stoltenberg, adding that he doesn’t want to speculate on what might happen as the current goal is to de-escalate. Stoltenberg said, “We call on Russia to sit at the table, to hold talks to prevent such scenarios and to find a political solution.”
Putin meets with Macron
On the other hand, the Kremlin, which issued a statement after a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, said that Russian President Putin will examine the responses of the United States and NATO and then decide what to do about the issue. The statement said that Putin told Macron that the US and NATO did not respond to “Russia’s fundamental reservations” in their responses to Russia’s security requests, but that they were ready to continue talks.
An official from the Elysee Palace said that Putin told Macron that he did not want the situation to escalate further. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said, “If the matter is left to the Russian Federation, there will be no war, we do not want a war. However, we will not allow our interests to be trampled and ignored.”
“We don’t need to panic”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski stated that he could not ignore the fact that the tension with Russia would not escalate further, but that the “panic” that he said had an impact on the economy was not necessary. “I don’t see the situation as more tense than before. There is a feeling that there is a war here abroad. However, this is not the case,” Zelenski said. Zelenski said he gave this message to US President Joe Biden in a phone call on Thursday. In a statement, US President Biden warned Zelenski that Russia’s military intervention was an “apparent possibility”.
Russia bans entry to EU representatives
According to the statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday evening, some representatives of the European Union (EU) have been banned from entering Russia. In the statement, it was stated that the decision was a reaction to an “absurd” policy of “unilateral restrictions” from Brussels, while the entry bans particularly affected the representatives of some EU countries “who are personally responsible for the spread of anti-Russian policies”.
In the ministry’s statement, it was stated that “in line with the principle of reciprocity and equality”, the Russian side decided to expand the list of representatives of EU member states and institutions that are prohibited from entering Russia. The statement did not specify who these countries and institutions or representatives were.
DW,rtr,AFP / DÇÜ,HT
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