2021-04-12T17:49:00+03:00 Politics 2024-09-15T08:53:44+03:00

Ukrainian news

Ukraine Initiates April 13 Emergency Meeting Of NATO Commission To Discuss Russia's Escalation Of Security Sit

Ukraine Initiates April 13 Emergency Meeting Of NATO Commission To Discuss Russia's Escalation Of Security Situation

Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit Brussels (Belgium) on April 13 to attend an emergency meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission, which was initiated by Ukraine, to discuss the Russian escalation of the security situation in Donbas.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry announced this in a statement, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba will pay a working visit to the NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 13 to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission. The meeting, which was initiated by Ukraine, is being convened under Article 15 of the Charter on a Special Partnership between Ukraine and NATO for implementation of the April 6 agreement between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg," the statement said.

This article provides for the possibility of using the crisis mechanism to conduct joint consultations with NATO if Ukraine sees a direct threat to its territorial integrity, independence, or security.

"This article was last activated in 2018 after Russia attacked Ukrainian gunboats near the Kerch Strait in the Black Sea," the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

At the April 13 meeting, Kuleba and NATO members will discuss the Russian escalation of the security situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border and the Russian-annexed Crimea, as well as effective ways in which the alliance can support Ukraine.

A separate meeting between Kuleba and Stoltenberg will take place during the visit.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Kuleba believes that the current increase of Russia’s military presence on its border with Ukraine is the most ambitious provocation since the detention of Ukrainian sailors in the Kerch Strait in 2018.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Russia refused to explain the reasons for the massing of troops on the border in response to an official request from Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has discussed the escalation of the situation in Donbas and the massing of Russian troops on its border with Ukraine with Stoltenberg, United States President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since the beginning of April.

Zelenskyy has also paid a working visit to Turkey to meet with President Recep Erdogan and plans to visit France this week to meet with President Emmanuel Macron.