FM Kuleba: Ukraine expects NATO to take measures to deter Russia

“At the operational level, we need measures, which will deter Russia, and which will contain its aggressive intentions. This could be, as [NATO] Secretary General mentioned, a new round of sanctions, which would raise the price of Russian aggression. This could be a direct support, aimed at strengthening Ukraine's defence capabilities, because we do know that Russia spares no effort to prevent third countries from cooperating with Ukraine, in the defence sector. Russia is working hard to undermine our defence capabilities,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He added that some measures might look “costly”, but the price of conflict prevention would still be lower than the price of stopping the war and mitigating its consequences.

“So it's better to act now to prevent Russia from further escalating the situation,” Kuleba noted.

As reported, on April 10, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran said that the real goals of Russia's military presence near Ukraine's borders could be to increase pressure on Ukraine to coerce it into making concessions in the negotiation process and to demonstrate readiness to use force.

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