NATO Secretary General Urges Dialogue with Russia... Warns "Risk of Clash is Real"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), announced on the 19th (local time) that he sent a letter to Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, urging dialogue through the NATO-Russia Council to avoid conflict in Ukraine, according to major foreign media reports.

Secretary General Stoltenberg said this on the second day of the Munich Security Conference held in Munich, Germany, warning again that there is still no sign of Russian troop withdrawal from the border area with Ukraine and that the risk of conflict is real.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union (EU) Commission, also stated at the conference that "The world is facing the largest military buildup on European soil since the dark days of the Cold War," adding, "Recent events could reshape the entire international order." She further criticized, "(Russia) is making blatant attempts to rewrite the rules of the international order."

The Munich Security Conference, which opened the previous day and continues until the 20th, was attended by many high-level officials from governments and international organizations, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, United Nations Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukraine crisis was a major agenda item at this conference dealing with international security policy. In particular, on this day in Munich, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) member countries?the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan?discussed the situation in Ukraine.

Russia claims it has no intention to invade Ukraine and is withdrawing troops deployed near the border, but the United States argues that Russian forces near the border have actually increased and that an invasion could happen at any time. Especially regarding the bombardment and clashes occurring since the 16th in the eastern Ukrainian conflict zone of Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk regions), the West claims that Russia is conducting a "false flag operation," a staged act, to create a pretext for invading Ukraine.

On the 18th, U.S. President Joe Biden asserted, "Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine." However, he emphasized the possibility of a diplomatic solution until the very end. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are scheduled to hold talks on the 23rd.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.