NATO asserted that it will continue to do everything is necessary to safeguard and defend every square inch of NATO territory.
We are reinforcing our collective defence
— NATO (@NATO) March 16, 2022
🔹 Hundreds of thousands of troops on heightened alert
🔹 100k 🇺🇸 troops in Europe
🔹 40k troops under direct NATO command
🔹 Supported by naval and air forces#NATO | #DefMin pic.twitter.com/CW6xUCi4k8
On the other side of the corner, the head of Russian Intelligence, Sergey Naryshkin, warned on Wednesday that the future of the country will be decided in the coming days and has assured that it is mainly a question of “sovereignty”.
“Our country is experiencing a truly historic moment. The future of Russia and its role in the world are at stake,” he said. “We must remember that sovereignty has always been the factor for Russian development and the cornerstone of its thousand-year history,” the minister added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on the other front, said a “business-like spirit” is emerging at talks with Ukraine that are now focused on a neutral status for the war-torn country.
“A neutral status is being seriously discussed in connection with security guarantees,” Lavrov said Wednesday on Russian channel RBK TV. “There are concrete formulations that in my view are close to being agreed.”
He didn’t elaborate, but said “the business-like spirit” starting to surface in the talks “gives hope that we can agree on this issue.”
Russia’s chief negotiator in the latest round of talks with Ukraine, which started Monday and are set to continue Wednesday, said earlier the sides are discussing a possible compromise idea for a future Ukraine with a smaller, non-aligned military.
“A whole range of issues tied with the size of Ukraine’s army is being discussed,” Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said, according to Russian news agencies.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the country realizes it can’t join NATO. Ukraine’s bid to join the Western military alliance has been a sore point for Moscow.
Image Credit: Getty
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