KYIV – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has demanded that Russia end its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and called on it to withdraw all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on October 31 after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr. Stoltenberg also said Moscow must return three Ukrainian Navy vessels that its forces seized in the Kerch Strait off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula last November.
“NATO supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and does not recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “Russia must end supporting separatists in east Ukraine.”
“Russia should remove its troops and equipment from Ukrainian territory,” Mr. Stoltenberg told the press conference.
Standing beside President Zelenskyy following a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission on October 31, Mr. Stoltenberg said NATO plans to increase its support for Ukraine in the Black Sea by staging military exercises in the region.
Russia maintains that the Ukrainian Navy ships its forces seized in the Kerch Strait were in Russian territorial waters at the time. But that claim has been rejected by the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of The Sea.
Earlier on October 31, Mr. Stoltenberg met with the Ukrainian president in Kyiv for talks that, according to the Presidential Office, involved “a narrow circle” of NATO and Ukrainian officials.
Mr. Stoltenberg said that peace agreements aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russia-backed militants and Ukrainian government forces must be implemented by all sides.
He said that NATO supported Mr. Zelenskyy’s efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict, adding that NATO was assisting Ukraine in order to strengthen its defense institutions and its armed forces.
But he said Ukraine needs to continue implementing reforms to secure the country’s security and to ensure its future membership in NATO.
Mr. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “ready for shifting to a new level,” and joining NATO’s Enhanced Opportunity Program. The Ukrainian president also expressed hope that cooperation between NATO and Kyiv “will deepen to strengthen our defense capabilities.”
With reporting by Reuters, AP and AFP.
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