© Mindaugas Kulbis/AP‘Washington’s attempt to make Ukraine a Nato political and military pawn (even absent the country’s formal membership in the alliance) may end up costing the Ukrainian people dearly.’
"NATO is a defense alliance. Our core task is to keep our 30 nations safe. We are not part of this conflict. And we have a responsibility to ensure it does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine," he said. "NATO is not seeking a war with Russia."
Comment: And yet the US and EU are supplying Ukraine with weapons, training, etc... That's NATO logic for you.
That said, Stoltenberg added, the alliance has stepped up consultations with non-members Sweden and Finland, which are now taking part in all NATO events. It also ramped up support for Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said.
The option of a 'no-fly zone', which Kiev has been requesting from NATO members, was "mentioned" during the meeting, Stoltenberg said, but member states "agreed that we should not have NATO planes operating over Ukrainian airspace or NATO troops on Ukrainian territory."
A 'no-fly zone' would require NATO to shoot down Russian military aircraft involved in the Ukraine offensive, Stoltenberg pointed out. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned as he announced the invasion last week that any third party trying to intervene in the operation would have consequences "unlike anything they had in their history." Many Western nations took it as a thinly-veiled threat to use nuclear weapons.
Stoltenberg claimed credit for training and arming tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops over the years, saying this allowed them to fend off the Russian attack now. Putin cited NATO's creeping expansion into Ukraine as a major reason for ordering the attack in the first place.
Russia for years said that dragging its western neighbor into NATO would cross a red line and that Russia would have to respond to what it views as an existential threat to its national security.
Hungarian PM says countries can't count on NATO to protect them
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
"NATO will protect us when we are ready to defend ourselves. Anyone who thinks NATO will protect us is wrong," he said in an interview for Kossuth state radio.
Orban praised the fact that Hungary had managed to reorganize its army since 2010 and was strong enough to protect itself and its allies. Still, he believes the country should stay away from war, as it was not "Hungary's job to sort out world politics." The president added that the safety of Hungarian citizens was his top priority in this conflict.
Orban also warned that Western sanctions against Russia pose an "immediate danger" to the economy, noting that they have already had an impact in Hungary, where energy prices escalated rapidly, prompting further inflation.
"Sanctions have a price as it is a double-edged weapon, and we will pay this price in the short term," he said in the interview, adding that it was "only the beginning of the crisis."
Orban also commented on Ukrainian refugees arriving in Hungary. While about 70% to 80% of the 140,000 displaced citizens are going to other countries, he said Hungary wants to offer jobs to those who stay, and the prime minister has already initiated talks with employers. He added that the country is ready to accommodate refugees for three months, but warned that they will then have to integrate themselves into Hungarian society. He also stressed the importance of healthcare, as the coronavirus pandemic remains an issue.
According to the UN, more than one million people have fled Ukraine since Moscow began its offensive last Thursday, heading to Poland, Russia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and other countries in order to find safety.
Comment: Those that managed to escape, because in some areas the Ukrainian military is threatening to kill anyone caught trying to leave. Those that are trapped risk being used as human shields by the Ukrainian military who are secreting themselves in civilian areas.
In the wake of Russia's invasion, the European Union and other countries have placed a number of severe sanctions on Moscow, including barring several of the country's banks from the global payment system, SWIFT, and closing airspace to Russian aircraft. Prominent international brands such as Apple, IKEA, H&M and Airbnb have also suspended their operations in Russia over the Ukrainian conflict.
Refusing Ukraine was right call, NATO country says
© ReutersFILE PHOTO: Chancellor Olaf Scholz explained his Ukraine policy, views on Russia, and why he's rearming the Bundeswehr
Scholz was apparently referring to the June 2021 summit in Brussels, when NATO endorsed the two former Soviet republics' right to join in principle, but did not give a timeframe for accession and insisted on both undergoing "reforms" before that could happen.
"That was the correct decision, after very long negotiations within NATO about that issue," said Scholz, answering ZDF host Maybrit Illner.
Ukraine's NATO membership is not on the alliance's agenda today, the chancellor added.
NATO first embraced the "open-door policy" for former Soviet republics at the Bucharest summit in April 2008 - four months before Georgia attacked the breakaway region of South Ossetia, triggering a Russian intervention.
In February 2014, a US-backed coup ousted the democratically elected government in Kiev. In December that year, the new government abandoned its commitment to neutrality and changed the constitution to reflect its aspirations to join both NATO and the European Union (EU).
Russia has cited Ukraine's NATO aspirations as a "red line" for its national security, offering the alliance and the US a proposal for joint European security architecture in December. Both Washington and Brussels said no.
Last week, Moscow ordered its troops into Ukraine to demilitarize and "denazify" the government in Kiev, claiming it was engaged in "genocide" in the breakaway republics of the Donbass. Ukraine has accused Russia of an unprovoked invasion. NATO has agreed with Ukraine's position and imposed a sweeping blockade of Russia, but publicly pledged not to send troops to fight in Ukraine.
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