No one gives in in the Ukrainian war. Russia maintains its so-called military operation, the kyiv government does not waver in the defense of its territory and NATO “will not back down”. That is the vote that the foreign affairs ministers of the transatlantic organization have renewed at the meeting held this Tuesday in Bucharest under the direction of the general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg. Nor has Hungary given in, which, in the presence in Bucharest of the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, reactivated the veto that it imposed on this country to prevent its participation in the forum.
“As you know, Hungary has been blocking Ukraine-NATO Commission meetings above the ambassadorial level since 2017,” said Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. “To formally overcome the Hungarian veto, Stoltenberg has organized a separate meeting for the NATO and Ukrainian foreign ministers,” it added. Kuleba was thus able to address his colleagues, with some of whom – including the Spaniard Jos� Manuel Albares – held bilateral meetings. Albares conveyed “the solidarity and support of Spain in these difficult times” and promised to mobilize more aid. Russia “wants to turn winter into a new weapon” in the war against Ukraine and warned that, if action is not taken, “a new humanitarian disaster” could occur, he declared.
Support and without fissures is what Stoltenberg intends to obtain among the allies. “The message from Bucharest is that NATO will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes . We will not back down,” he said. His argument is that Putin cannot win because if he does he will pay “a much higher price for many years.” Because the lesson that Russian President Vladimir Putin and other authoritarian leaders will learn” is “that they can achieve their goals using brute force”, so they will use “more force again” he said. And that, “the most dangerous world and all of us more vulnerable.”
But, in his opinion, Putin is losing the war . “It is failing in its brutal war of aggression” against Ukraine and responding “with more brutality.” And he cited as an example the ” wave after wave of deliberate missile attacks against cities and civilian infrastructure, hitting homes, hospitals and the electrical grid.” In addition, “we know that Russia is running out of ammunition“And that this is also the reason why he has turned to his environment to try to achieve more”, stressed the Secretary General. “We are saying very clearly that no country should support Russia’s illegal war, and therefore Iran and no other country should provide Russia with missiles, drones or anything else that can help them continue. this brutal war of aggression against Ukraine,” he said.
Criticism of Moscow
Stoltemberg recalled that, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO tried to maintain a “constructive” dialogue with the Kremlin, but added that Russia “has abandoned” said dialogue and that in the current conditions cannot continue. Still, he recognized that most wars end at a bargaining table, and he linked that table to what happens on the battlefield.
“This is terrible for Ukraine, but these are also hard times for us in the rest of Europe and many other countries in the world. We are facing a painful cost of living crisis. In effect, we are all paying a price for the war of Russia against Ukraine, but the price we pay is in money, while the price Ukrainians pay is in blood,” he stressed. For that reason, “I hope the message from Bucharest is that we need to do more than we already do, both to help Ukraine repair the destruction of critical infrastructure, and to deal with the attacks themselves, providing more air defense systems,” he stressed.
Stoltenberg reiterated that NATO allies and the organization itself are not part of the conflict in Ukraine , although they are providing Kiev with “unprecedented” support because the country has a “right to self-defense.” In any case, the Alliance is “prepared to defend every inch of Allied territory,” he said.
The reconstruction of the gas and electricity infrastructures destroyed by the Russian bombings and the continuity in the supply of weapons will be two of the major issues to be addressed in the two days of the meeting in Bucharest. In Wednesday’s session, allied foreign ministers will discuss resilience and how to deal with challenges posed by China’s coercive policies and actions. In addition, they will meet with the foreign ministers of Georgia, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina to express the allies’ “firm support” for those partners, and will address the security situation in the Western Balkans. and the Black Sea regions.
