During their meeting in the Belgian capital on Tuesday and Wednesday, top diplomats from NATO countries were expected to address the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as growing strategic competition, according to an announcement.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday that the alliance's foreign ministers were meeting to address urgent security issues and reaffirm long-term support to Ukraine.
He warned that Moscow was seeking to destabilise allied democracies, citing cyberattacks and energy blackmail, as well as its use of migrants against Finland, according to NATO's website.
“NATO stands in solidarity with our ally Finland,” Stoltenberg said, accusing Moscow of using “migration as a tool to put pressure on a neighbour and a NATO ally,” prompting the closure of border crossing points.
Referring to Ukraine’s offensive, Stoltenberg said that Kyiv was “inflicting major losses on Russia,” has recaptured 50 percent of the territory that Russia had seized, and that it has “prevailed as a sovereign independent nation.”
“This is a big win for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told reporters, adding that Russia was “weaker politically, economically and militarily” than before the war.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to attend a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council on Wednesday.
“We will reaffirm NATO’s long-term support” for Ukraine, Stoltenberg said, and “agree recommendations for Ukraine’s priority reforms, as we continue to support Kyiv on its path to NATO membership."
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Tuesday is day 643 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, nato.int
