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Ukraine appeals to NATO for deterrence package against Russia

Ukraine urged NATO to prepare economic sanctions on Russia on Wednesday and boost military cooperation with Kyiv as the country joined the Western alliance for talks about how to deter Russia from a renewed attack after it massed troops close by.

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Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that now aspires to join the European Union and NATO, has become a potential flashpoint between Russia and the West as relations have soured to their worst level in the three decades since the Cold War ended.

“We will call on the allies to join Ukraine in putting together a deterrence package,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, told reporters as he arrived for talks with his NATO counterparts in Riga.

As part of this package, NATO should prepare economic sanctions against Russia in case it “decides to choose the worst-case scenario,” he said, adding that the alliance should also boost military and defence cooperation with Ukraine.

✅Calling on allies to jointly deter Putin with coordinated, resolute and proactive steps

✅Calling on allies to join efforts by Ukraine and partners to put together a comprehensive deterrence package which will demotivate Moscow from choosing the worst-case scenario 2/2

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) December 1, 2021
“We are confident that if we join efforts, if we act in a coordinated fashion, we will be able to deter President Putin and to demotivate him from choosing the worst-case scenario, which is a military operation,” Mr Kuleba said.

Jeppe Kofod, Danish Foreign Minister, told journalists upon arrival for the NATO session that any military operation that would violate the sovereignty of Ukraine would be met with “severe consequences” and that Denmark was ready to engage with “heavy” sanctions.

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His comments echoed those of NATO and the US, who on Tuesday issued stark warnings to Russia that it would pay a high price for any new military aggression against Ukraine.

“Any future Russian aggression against Ukraine would come at a high price and have serious political and economic consequences for Russia,” Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General, said after the first day of talks between the 30 allies in Riga.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin countered that the country would be forced to act if the US-led NATO placed missiles in Ukraine that could strike Moscow within minutes.

Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said he would have more to say on the issue on Wednesday after consulting with NATO allies.

The Kremlin annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and then backed rebels fighting government troops in the east of the country. The conflict has killed 14,000 people, according to Kyiv, and is still simmering.

As the RIA news agency reported, Mr Kuleba also warned against recognition of Crimea by Belarus, a close ally of Russia, after Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lulashenka said the Crimean Peninsula was legally Russian territory.

“The potential recognition of the occupied Crimea by Belarus will be a point of no return in our bilateral relations, and we will act accordingly. Because for us, Crimea is not a field for compromises,” the Ukrainian FM stressed.

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