NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated it during an online speech.

“Our goal is to make it clear to Russia that if it uses military force against Ukraine, it will suffer consequences. NATO partners are ready to impose strong political and financial sanctions”, - the official stressed.

He noted Ukraine could inflict damage on the Russian Federation since it has a much better level of training than in 2014 when the war in Donbas began.

“We are helping to reform and modernize Ukrainian security institutions and train the military. Therefore, Ukraine will also harm Russia if they attack Ukraine again”, - the Secretary-General said.

The official noted that Russia continues to transfer heavy weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian border.

“We are now seeing an increase in troops. They are deploying thousands of troops, machinery, and equipment on the borders with Ukraine and Belarus, including helicopters and heavy weapons”, - Stoltenberg said.

According to Stoltenberg, NATO still does not clearly understand what action Russia plans to take.

“We have time to negotiate until Russia decides to attack. It is unclear what Russia’s plans are. Apparently, they have not yet made a final decision. NATO is ready for political dialogue and ready to respond if there is a threat. We are ready for negotiations, but we are also ready for the worst”, - he said.

He also reminded that NATO is ready to increase its military presence in the Eastern Allies, and it is already working on this issue.

“This refutes rumours of NATO’s inability and unwillingness to defend allies”, - he said.

The Alliance will expand its forces in both the Baltic and the Black Sea regions.

“We hope to deploy strike forces (response forces) not only in the Baltic States, but we also hope that other countries will agree to increase their presence in the Black Sea region, such as France, Britain, and others as part of NATO forces”, - Stoltenberg said.

What is known

• In early November 2021, the American media reported on the accumulation of Russian equipment on the border with Ukraine. Then the Ministry of Defence and the National Security and Defence Council denied this information. On November 21, the head of Ukrainian intelligence said that Russia had amassed over 92,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and was preparing for an attack by the end of January - beginning of February 2022.
• On January 26, the US sent Russia a written response to its "proposals" regarding "security guarantees" in Europe. The requirements of the Russian Federation contained no expansion of NATO to the East and the guarantees that Ukraine would not join the Alliance.
• On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry offered the United States draft security guarantees and security agreements with Russia and NATO member states, which prohibits the former Soviet Union (including Ukraine) from joining the alliance.
• In response, the United States and NATO said they had received proposals from Russia but would not discuss European security without the participation of allies in Europe.
•  The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed that only the country and NATO decide how their relations will develop, in particular, concerning the expansion of the Alliance.
• The OSCE believes that the risk of war in Europe is now much higher than ever in the last 30 years.

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