NATO Foreign Ministers meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Brussels on Tuesday, April 5, as per reports.
Before heading for Belgium, where the meeting was scheduled, the US diplomat said it was important to coordinate with NATO allies and partners to stop the Russian force’s aggression against Ukrainian civilians. Blinken said, “We obviously have some changing battlefield dynamics with the Russian pullback from parts of Ukraine, especially Kyiv and areas more to the west.”
He added, “We, of course, have the horrific atrocities that have been revealed for all the world to see in Bucha. As I said, it is like a receding tide, and we are seeing in very stark terms the death and destruction that is being left in the wake. So there is obviously a lot of focus on that. The Biden administration was looking for the ways to put pressure on Russia and its President Vladimir Putin while keeping the support for Ukrainians at the top-notch.
At the same time, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, while addressing a press conference before heading to the Belgian capital, condemned the horrific images of murdered civilians in Bucha and other places and said, “This is unbearable brutality that Europe has not witnessed in many decades.” He added that targeting and murdering civilians is a war crime and also appealed to the Russian President to stop it immediately.
Meanwhile, NATO Allies are favouring investigations, including the United Nations, and the International Criminal Court. He further noted, “All the facts must be established, and those responsible for these atrocities must be brought to justice.”
While calling this week the important phase of the war, the NATO chief speculated that the Russian forces would push further in eastern and southern Ukraine in the coming weeks. As per Stoltenberg, Putin will also try to take the entire Donbass region in the coming weeks and will also try to create a land bridge in order to connect Crimea.
He further said, “Allies are determined to provide further support to Ukraine with anti-tank weapons, air-defence systems and other equipment. Allies have also increased humanitarian assistance and financial aid.”
