Contents tagged with NATO

  • Hungary blocks Ukraine’s membership in NATO’s Cyber Defense Center

    Ukraine's membership in NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) was blocked by Hungary, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.

    The Secretary of the Ukrainian National Defense and Security Council (NSDC), Oleksiy Danilov confirmed it.

    Ukraine submitted an official request to join the Center in August 2021. The procedure for approving the application began in October.

    Ukraine was expected to become a member of CCDCOE as early as January 1, 2022, but the Hungarian government announced …

  • Putin: U.S. and NATO ignore Russia’s demands for security guarantees

    The U.S. and NATO, in their written responses to Russia on long-term security guarantees, ignored Russia's basic demands, said Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

    Putin noted that the Russia is analyzing the written replies received on January 26 from the United States and NATO.

    "But it is already clear that Russia’s fundamental concerns have been ignored. We did not see an adequate consideration of our three key requirements …

  • Russia unexpectedly suspends large-scale readiness check of its troops

    Russia has stopped a series of military and naval exercises in the south and west regions three days after receiving written responses from the United States and NATO to proposals for security guarantees.

    The snap readiness check announced in the Western and Southern districts has been completed, and 7,000 soldiers who were put on alert are returning to their places of permanent deployment.

    The exercises of the Western Military District, which started on January 25 with participation of …

  • U.S. and NATO reject Putin's demands for security guarantees

    The United States and NATO rejected Russia’s key demands for security guarantees which include stopping the enlargement of NATO and not accepting Ukraine and Georgia into the Alliance.

    "We will preserve the principle of open doors of the alliance,”  said the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, commenting on the written response, which was delivered to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday evening by Ambassador John Sullivan.

    He added that Russia cannot dictate which …

  • Kremlin: disconnecting Russia from SWIFT will be impossible

    It is virtually impossible to disconnect Russia from the interbank payment system SWIFT due to Russia’s oil and gas supplies, said Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation at the talks in Vienna on military security and arms control.

    "It reminds me of an animal eating a cactus. It is hurting, but it still continues to eat,” Gavrilov said.

    According to him, there are no discussions about disconnecting Russia from SWIFT. "It's not easy, de facto. Well, Iran was shut down, so what? …

  • Russia vows to stop U.S. 'from taking over Ukraine'

    Two rounds of negotiations held by American, NATO and Russian officials in Geneva and Brussels did not help to alleviate the concerns of the Russian authorities regarding the NATO bloc.

    “The North Atlantic Alliance is preparing an information background for deployment of its troops to Ukraine, and this poses a security threat to both Russia and European countries,” said the Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin.

    "NATO seeks to take over Ukraine," he said, adding that Moscow …

  • Canada deploys special forces to Ukraine

    A small contingent of Canadian Special Operations Regiment has been sent to Ukraine, reports Global News channel, citing sources. According to Global News, the Canadian military flew to Ukraine on January 9.

    Global News’ sources said that the presence of the Canadian military “is part of an attempt by NATO allies to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine, and to identify ways to assist the Ukrainian government”.

    Among other tasks of the Canadian special forces is the development and …

  • Estonia prepared to host 5,000 NATO soldiers

    The Estonian Defense Ministry said it was ready to host 5,000 soldiers of NATO Rapid Response Force. If necessary, the Ministry is ready to build new barracks for the permanent deployment of the military to strengthen the eastern flank of the Alliance, said the Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Defense Ministry Kusti Salm, reports the news agency ERR.

    "We clearly see that as part of the deterrence policy, the Baltic region should be strengthened. There are clear plans on how to do this if …

  • Russia threatens to deploy nuclear missiles to Venezuela after failed talks with NATO on security guarantees

    Russia sees no reason to continue security consultations with the United States, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

    According to Ryabkov, who led the Russian delegation in the Geneva talks, Washington "actually said no" to the key elements of the draft agreements proposed by Moscow in December.

    These are the refusal to expand NATO (including the admission of Georgia and Ukraine to the Alliance), the withdrawal of the bloc's infrastructure to the borders of 1997 and the non- …

  • NATO Secretary General speaks about threat of war after talks with Russia fail

    The second round of negotiations on Russia's security guarantees, which took place on Wednesday in Brussels at the level of the Russia-NATO Council, predictably brought no results.

    NATO rejected Russia’s demands for non-expansion to the east, cancelling the decision to accept Georgia and Ukraine into the Alliance and NATO’S withdrawal to its 1997 borders.

    "Only Ukraine and 30 allies (NATO member countries) can decide when Ukraine can become a member of NATO. No one else. And of course, Russia …