The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, stated this Wednesday that for the moment they have not seen any de-escalation on the ground after Russia reported that it was going to withdraw some of the troops concentrated next to Ukraine, but that it could even be increasing those forces.
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“We have heard signals from Moscow about its willingness to continue diplomatic efforts, but so far we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground; on the contrary, it seems that Russia continues with the military reinforcement, ”Stoltenberg told the press upon his arrival at a meeting of allied defense ministers.
He insisted that the messages and signals that arrived on Tuesday from Moscow “provide some reasons for cautious optimism” because it was a message in favor of “diplomacy.”
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“But at the same time, we haven’t seen any withdrawal of Russian forces, and of course that contradicts the message of real diplomatic efforts, so it remains to be seen if there is a Russian withdrawal. We are, of course, monitoring very closely what what Russia does in and around Ukraine,” he said.
He reiterated that what the Alliance sees is that Moscow “has increased the number of troops and more troops are on the way.”
“So for now there is no de-escalation, but of course we also heard the message on diplomacy and we are prepared to engage in diplomatic efforts with Russia,” he said.
In any case, he said that if Russia “really” begins to withdraw forces, NATO will “welcome” such a step.but he stressed that “it remains to be seen” if the de-escalation is going to take place.
“They have always moved troops from one place to another, so seeing movements of forces or tanks does not confirm a real withdrawal,” he said, adding that the “trend in recent months and weeks has been a constant increase in Russian capabilities near Ukraine’s borders”.
But at the same time, we have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces, and of course that contradicts the message of real diplomatic efforts.
Therefore, he specified that Moscow “maintains the capacity for a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine without any warning”, and explained that what has been seen in recent months is that Russia withdraws most of its troops from a specific area, but leaves there the equipment, with which “very quickly they can send the personnel back”.
“What we need is a real and lasting withdrawal of forces, not the movement of troops,” explained the secretary general, and showed that if Moscow invades Ukraine, Russia “will pay a high price.”
Asked if the Kremlin’s messages in favor of diplomacy are a tactic to buy time and continue concentrating troops, Stoltenberg preferred “not to speculate.”
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“We see a message from Moscow that they will give diplomacy a chance,” he said, adding that NATO “works hard for the best, a peaceful political solution,” but is “prepared for the worst,” referring to a new Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Stoltenberg indicated that the Alliance has not received a response to the written proposals on security in Europe that the organization sent to Russia in January, in parallel with the United States.
Those letters were in response to Russian demands that NATO not accept members like Ukraine.a proposal that the Alliance discards completely, although it is willing to talk with Moscow about arms control or transparency of military activities.
The Norwegian politician said on Wednesday that the decision on Ukraine’s entry into NATO rests with the 30 allies and not with Russia.
What does Russia say about it?
Russia stated on Wednesday that NATO does not correctly assess the situation around Ukraine, in response to statements by the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance.
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“Apparently, there is a certain handicap in NATO’s system of assessing the situation, the state of things,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone press briefing.
He added that this “certainly does not allow NATO representatives to coolly assess the situation.” “There are problems with the situation assessment system,” he insisted.
Asked whether the failure of Western media predictions that Russia would attack Ukraine early Wednesday morning is the culmination of “information hysteria,” Peskov replied in the negative.
“Honestly, the character of how this western hysteria is developing shows that it is surely a long way from its culmination. Remission does not happen immediately; we will have to arm ourselves with patience,” the spokesman said.
He added that “it would be important that representatives of the Western media, in this case the British, at least at the end of the day, point out that their prediction has not come true.”
EFE
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