Contents tagged with NATO
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Kremlin accuses NATO of creating a ‘striking fist’ near Russia's borders
NATO is creating a "striking fist" near Russia's borders, strengthening its military presence in Eastern Europe in close proximity to Russia, said Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.
Zakharova’s statement was made in response to the reports about NATO's plans to hold Defender Europe-2020 military exercises in April and May. The exercises will be held by the United States but will involve other NATO members. …
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NATO Secretary General: New Russian missiles ‘can reach European cities' and are ‘easy to hide’
In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the North Atlantic Alliance sees a threat in Russia's latest weapons.
"New Russian missiles are very dangerous," Stoltenberg said. He said they are "mobile, easy to hide" and can "reach European cities" within a very short time after their launch.
The Secretary General is sure that these characteristics not only reduce the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, but also increases the risk of possible …
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Ukraine expecting NATO status upgrade in October
Ukraine is expecting its status with NATO to be upgraded to that of a partner with enhanced opportunities in October this year, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk, as cited by UNIAN.
According to Zahorodniuk, the alliance is “absolutely satisfied” with the reforms that have been carried out in Ukraine, and if the country maintains this rate of positive changes, it can expect an upgrade in October.
Zahorodniuk said that it was at the Munich Security Conference, which was held …
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NATO urges Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine
NATO has expressed its concern regarding the escalation in the Donbas and urged Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, the Ukrainian Mission to NATO wrote on Facebook.
“We are concerned by the escalation of violence by the Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine this morning. This undermines the Minsk agreements and the efforts towards a peaceful conflict resolution,” said NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu.
NATO also affirmed its full support of the territorial integrity and …
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Kremlin names three conditions for improving relations with Europe
Russia is “carefully analyzing” French President Emmanuel Macron’s offer to improve dialog with Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, as cited by RBC news agency. The deputy minister remarked that Russia “is appraising the situation on the basis of reality”, and understands that, in order to bring about systemic changes to the status quo, Europe needs to take concrete steps towards cooperation.
According to Grushko, …
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Kyiv urges NATO to consider Ukraine’s request to join Enhanced Opportunity Program
Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk is convinced that Ukraine meets the criteria for joining NATO’s Enhanced Opportunities Partnership program, and has urged NATO to consider and endorse this decision.
“Our NATO partners know that joining the Enhanced Opportunity Partnership Program is an absolute priority for Ukraine. Ukraine has made significant progress implementing alliance standards and already meets the military criteria for joining the program. We are ready, and there is now a …
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Russia promises to respond to NATO’s largest military drills in Europe
Russia will respond to NATO’s Defender 2020 exercise in Europe, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as cited by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
According to him, the alliance’s European exercises are “greatly concerning” to Smolenskaya Square in Moscow, and Russia cannot ignore them.
“In the context of NATO’s cooperation with the EU in the military sphere, they invented the term ‘Military Schengen’, which envisages the upgrading of all transport arteries up to NATO’s eastern border in such a way …
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Ukraine willing to send 20 soldiers to Iraq for NATO mission
Ukraine has informed NATO that it is willing to partner with the alliance in Iraq, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmytro Kuleba said during a meeting with NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations John Manza at the NATO headquarters.
“I informed the assistant secretary general that Ukraine has a plan to send 20 soldiers to support the NATO mission in Iraq once the alliance resumes its operation. The invitation to become an operation partner for …
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Lukashenko: NATO will not allow Russia to violate Belarus’s sovereignty
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that the West and NATO would respond accordingly if Russia tried to violate the sovereignty of Belarus.
“Classic threats to sovereignty always exist, even for Russia. But I do not feel like the threat to Belarus’s sovereignty is growing. If this threat from Russia, as some people say, arises, and suddenly it tries to violate our sovereignty, you know what the reaction of not only the global community will be – they will get drawn into the …
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Belarus and NATO discuss joint military exercises
The Belarusian Defense Ministry has reported about the talks with NATO on holding joint exercises next year.
TASS reports that the parties are discussing the joint "peacekeeping exercises" as part of the Belarusian military training in the Italian NATO contingent.
It is expected that the Belarusian unit will be part of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon.
"Speaking about conducting joint exercises with NATO, we are not talking about preparation yet, but about the negotiation process, …