Yesterday at 23:53
Both exert violence to achieve political goals, Prystaiko said, citing Russia’s undeclared war in the Donbas and its use of biological and chemical weapons in Europe.
“Russia is terrorizing the entire world, and Moscow stirs up conflicts for its own political gains,” Prystaiko said. “My new president is striving to reach out to Putin and to understand how we can get this core (issue) settled and how can we get out of the war. That’s what all of us were honestly trying. And this brings us all to – unfortunately – to the understanding that we have to reinforce the alliance and to understand that, unfortunately, Russia is not with us.”
Prystaiko wrote on Twitter that Ukraine remains on course towards NATO membership and further Euro-Atlantic integration.
“First of all I strongly believe in this dual-track approach because I think there’s no contradiction between deterrence, defense, and dialog. Actually I believe that as long as we are strong, as long as we are firm we can also engage in a dialog with Russia,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenburg said.
Stoltenberg said the Alliance has implemented the biggest step-up in collective defense since the end of the Cold War. It was triggered partly by the fact that Russia attacked Georgia and Ukraine. Top officials at the Summit said that Russia is not the only threat, however.
“At the same time, we have so many issues to discuss. How to deal with Russia? Pressure and dialog. How to deal with China – which is presenting lots of challenges but also lots of opportunities? How to deal with the issue of space? So that next to air, sea, land, and cyber, we have this fifth dimension and how to deal with that. How to deal with new technologies? So there are many issues,” Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said.
In London, NATO leaders will address these issues and take steps to further strengthen the alliance. Their meeting starts at Buckingham Palace – where the Queen is hosting a reception on the occasion of NATO’s 70th anniversary.
