NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday has condemned Russia’s recklessness over the shelling of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine and demanded Moscow to stop the war against its neighbour.
Ahead of the talks with Western foreign ministers, Stoltenberg said, “Overnight, we have also heard reports about the attack on the nuclear power plant. This just discloses the recklessness of this war and the significance of ending it and the importance of Russia withdrawing all of its militaries and engaging good faith in diplomatic efforts.”
On Friday, In Brussels, allies have held a meeting, planning to maintain the pressure on after hitting Moscow with a wave of strict sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
NATO members have deployed thousands of troops to the eastern region of Europe to strengthen the alliance’s side closest to Russia and are sending weapons to help Ukraine defend itself.
But NATO has ruled out intervening military over fears of getting into a direct conflict with Moscow that could spiral into nuclear war.
That has so far removed Ukrainian calls for a no-fly zone to be imposed over their nation to stop the bombings by Kremlin’s forces.
As per the statement released by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, “We know that our red line is to make sure that there is no international conflict.”
“Meanwhile, I would say that we just wanted to ensure that scenarios are being negotiated, and we also wanted to make sure, that throughout the alliance, and throughout all nations that favours Ukraine, that we can have negotiations because we need to end this war.”
The ministers holding negotiations at NATO, the European Union as well as G7 on Friday are to recall the impact of sanctions on Russia and weigh tougher steps, including calls to hit Russia’s key oil and gas exports.