NATO agrees not to send alliance aircraft and soldiers to Ukraine

Europe, News March 5, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Foreign Ministers gathered in Brussels to hold an extraordinary meeting on March 4 to address the situation in Ukraine. The ministers agreed not to intervene and send the alliance forces to Ukraine.

During the meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “We are not part of this conflict” and stressed that the main responsibility of the alliance is to ensure that the conflict “does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine”.

“We have made it clear that we are not going to move into Ukraine, neither on the ground, nor in Ukrainian airspace,” NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said in a statement. “Allies agree we should not have NATO planes operating over Ukrainian airspace or NATO troops operating in Ukrainian territory,” Stoltenberg added.

According to the NATO release, the Foreign Ministers of the alliance agreed that “NATO’s relationship with Russia has fundamentally changed for the long term, but they remain committed to keeping diplomatic channels open to avoid any unintended escalation, misunderstanding or miscalculation.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also joined the European Union High Representative as well as the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden through a video link.

*^{NATO Foreign Ministers held an extraordinary meeting in Brussels on March 4, 2022. (Image Credit: NATO)}*

The statement also added that NATO is deploying its Response Force for the first time and has over 130 fighter jets at high alert and over 200 ships from the High North to the Mediterranean.

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said, “We will continue to do what it takes to protect and defend every inch of NATO territory”. The alliance foreign ministers also discussed the need to support partners who may be at risk of the war in Ukraine spilling-over, including Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the NATO release.

Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that the Russian forces are not targeting Ukrainian cities and civilian population, and the operation in Ukraine is limited to surgically strikes against the Ukrainian forces and military infrastructure.