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NATO stands united with Ukraine as Russian invasion fears rise: Polish president

18.02.2022 23:30
NATO stands united with Ukraine amid growing fears of a Russian invasion, Poland's president said after a video call on Friday with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Romania as well as the heads of NATO and the European Union.
Polands President Andrzej Duda briefs reporters after an online meeting on Friday with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Romania as well as heads of NATO and the European Union.
Poland's President Andrzej Duda briefs reporters after an online meeting on Friday with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Romania as well as heads of NATO and the European Union.Photo: PAP/Mateusz Marek

"The situation is serious and we are all aware of this," Andrzej Duda told reporters after the online meeting, amid an escalating standoff between Russia and the West over Kyiv's NATO ambitions.

"We are dealing with a massive wave of Russian propaganda," Duda added. "The situation is approaching what may prove to be a critical point."

"NATO stands united as one" and "there are no differences" among its members, the Polish president said.

He added that "the dialogue is ongoing with Russia" and that "Ukraine is behaving calmly."

Duda also said that NATO allies were agreed that "the response must be firm if there is an act of aggression."

He added that "nobody can say for sure if there will be an escalation" in the situation in Ukraine, and that "the most important thing is to stay calm and not to be provoked, while also standing together on the side of Ukraine."

Duda told reporters that "the possibilities for dialogue are running out" and that NATO "stands ready and united."

'Efforts to ensure defense and security of NATO’s eastern flank:' White House

Meanwhile, the White House said in a statement that Biden spoke on Friday with transatlantic leaders "about the likelihood of further Russian aggression against Ukraine."

It added that those taking part "expressed deep concern over Russia’s continued build-up of forces, reiterated their strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and discussed the importance of further economic assistance to Ukraine."

According to the statement, the leaders "pledged to continue pursuing diplomacy to de-escalate tensions while ensuring readiness to impose swift, coordinated economic costs on Russia should it choose further conflict."

They also "discussed efforts to ensure the defense and security of NATO’s eastern flank," the White House said in its statement.

The White House also said that participants in the call included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in addition to Poland's Duda.

Biden said in a tweet: "The American people are united. Europe is united. The Transatlantic community is united. The entire free world is united."

He added that "Russia has a choice — between war and all the suffering that it will bring — or diplomacy that will make the future safer for everyone."

Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday he was convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a decision to invade Ukraine, and though there was still room for diplomacy, he expected Russia to move on the country in the coming days, the Reuters news agency reported.

EU preparing sanctions against Moscow: Polish PM

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday that the European Union was drawing up a package of sanctions against Moscow amid fresh reports that Russia could soon attack Ukraine.

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak on Friday thanked the United States for enhancing its military presence in Poland amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Warsaw on Friday to hold talks with Polish political and military leaders.

He also met with US and Polish troops at Powidz Air Base in west-central Poland.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced this week that the Western military alliance was considering moving new battalion groups to its eastern flank amid the Russian threat to Ukraine.

Washington last week said it would send 3,000 more troops to Poland to reinforce NATO's eastern flank amid heightened concerns over a possible new Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Pentagon said on Thursday that almost all of the 4,700 American troops recently assigned to Poland had already arrived in the country amid the Russian buildup around Ukraine. 

Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and then fomented a separatist conflict in that country's eastern Donbas region, leading to a wave of EU and US sanctions against Moscow and Russian officials.

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Source: PAP, TVP Info, CNN, Reuters, whitehouse.gov