NATO must do more to protect itself against Russia, says German defense minister
NATO flag (Photo:REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol)
NATO must do more to protect itself against Russia and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the Reuters news agency quoted German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht as saying on Oct. 8.
“We cannot know how far Putin’s delusions of grandeur can go,” she said while visiting German troops deployed in Lithuania.
Lambrecht also reminded about the threats Russia has made to Lithuania.
“We’ve heard Russia’s threats to Lithuania, which was implementing European sanctions on the border with Kaliningrad,” the defense minister said.
“This is not nearly the first such threats, and we must take them seriously and be prepared.”
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Oct. 7 that NATO should accept Ukraine into the defense organization after the victory over Russia, otherwise there is “no sense in having the alliance.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sept. 30 that his country would apply for NATO membership on an expedited basis. The document was signed by the president, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.
According to Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President’s Office to Ukraine, Ukraine held consultations with NATO before filing its request to join the alliance on an expedited basis.
The presidents of nine NATO countries (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) on Oct. 2 called for “a significant increase in military assistance to Ukraine” and supported its membership in the Alliance.
The Office of the President of Ukraine reported on Oct. 4 that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had received Ukraine’s application. Now it will be considered at the level of ambassadors of NATO member states in Brussels.
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