NATO meeting to discuss more pressure on Russia, support for Ukraine: US' Blinken

'We'll continue to talk about not only how we can sustain these efforts, but how we can build upon them,' says US secretary of state

By Burak Dag

ANKARA (AA) – Convening on the Russia-Ukraine war, the NATO foreign ministers meeting will discuss more pressure on Moscow and further support for Kyiv, the US secretary of state said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day meeting in Brussels, Antony Blinken said that they have followed a triple strategy of supporting Ukraine, exerting extraordinary pressure on Russia and guaranteeing NATO defense since the start of the aggression.

"And today, tomorrow, we'll continue to talk about not only how we can sustain these efforts, but how we can build upon them," he said.

Blinken further said: "We're also in a period of tremendous importance for the future of our alliances, not just with regard to the Russian aggression against Ukraine … but also by other challenges that we have to face together as an alliance."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was beside the top US diplomat addressing the reporters before the start of the meeting.

He said the NATO foreign ministers meeting will address the “global ramifications” of the Ukraine crisis and cooperation in different fields with NATO's partners from Asia Pacific.

The Strategic Concept, he said, will be discussed during the first session of the meeting that will frame “how NATO should continue to be the strongest alliance in history, facing a more dangerous world and the new security reality.”

Stoltenberg thanked Blinken for the US' "outstanding and indispensable" leadership during the Ukraine crisis, saying: "That is of great importance when we face a very dangerous situation with the ongoing war in Ukraine."

The NATO chief said besides Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba, the foreign ministers of Australia, Finland, Georgia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Sweden were also invited to the meeting.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which has started on Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and Britain, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,563 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,213 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.27 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.

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