Ukraine is asking for NATO help to contain the Russian threat with strong political signals, the development of economic sanctions and other military support. “If we act in a coordinated way, we will be able to deterrence Putin and demotivate him from choosing the worst case scenario, which is the military operation”, said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a speech at the meeting of ministers of Foreign NATO in Riga. Kuleba had denounced the displacement of 115 thousand Russian soldiers at the border.
For his part, yesterday the Russian president had “warned” NATO, ordering not to deploy troops and weapons in Ukraine: “This constitutes a red line for Moscow”, he declared, “and would trigger a strong response, which could include the deployment of Russian missiles ». In essence, Putin, commenting on Western concerns about Moscow’s alleged intention to invade Ukraine, replied that Russia is equally concerned about NATO exercises near its borders. The president said he was concerned that NATO could use Ukrainian territory to deploy missiles capable of reaching Moscow in just 5 minutes: “The emergence of these threats constitutes a red line for us,” Putin reiterated. And again: “I hope that common sense and responsibility will prevail for their countries and for the global community”, making it clear, however, that Russia could deploy its hypersonic missiles.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called for “direct negotiations” with Russia to stop the ongoing conflict since 2014 between the Kiev authorities and the two pro-Russian separatist republics in the east of the country. “We have to tell ourselves the truth, that we cannot stop the war without direct negotiations with Russia,” Zelensky said during a speech in Parliament.