Ukrainian president enacts state security strategy against threats

By Talha Yavuz

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has approved the state security strategy of Ukraine, the country’s presidency announced Wednesday.

According to the statement, the strategy aims to ensure that the state intervenes against internal and external threats to improve state security in line with the standards set by the European Union and NATO.

The statement also said that Russia maintained its hybrid war against Ukraine in political, economic and cyber fields. It also mentioned that human rights violations were taking place in “illegally occupied” Crimea as well as regions under the control of pro-Russia separatists in Donbas.

Moscow, according to Ukrainian officials, recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukrainian borders, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning a military offensive against its neighbor.

Russia has denied that it is preparing to invade and accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.

Russia also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that some of those states would not join NATO.

In a written response to those demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO's “open-door policy.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance will not compromise on core principles. He described these principles as the right of each nation to choose its own path and NATO's ability to protect and defend its allies.