NATO won't create '2nd-class' allies to soothe Russia, alliance head says

NATO foreign ministers met by video conference Friday to discuss Russia's military presence on Ukraine's borders, as alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the troop buildup continues.

"We support Ukraine," Stoltenberg said, adding that NATO cannot compromise on the sovereignty of nations and permit each nation to choose its own course toward membership.

"We are ready to engage in arms control with Russia, conventional and nuclear, but that has to be reciprocal," Stoltenberg said. "We can't end up in a situation where we have second-class NATO members where NATO as an alliance is not allowed to protect them.

"The risk of conflict is real. Russia's aggressive actions seriously undermine the security order in Europe," he added.

In December, Russia shared a list of combined grievances and demands with the United States that included an end to NATO deployments on the alliance's eastern flank and no further NATO expansion.

NATO has all but formally rejected these demands, saying Russia would not have a veto on the alliance's membership or dictate its operations. Meanwhile, Moscow has sent roughly 100,000 troops to Ukraine's border.

Recently, the leaders of Sweden and Finland, non-member states aligned with NATO, signaled they see their decision to join NATO as their own right of self-determination in the wake of Russia's troop movements near the Ukraine border.

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What have members of the alliance said?

After the talks, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics called it a "good meeting" and said on Twitter: "Unity of allies, efficient, collective defense and support to our partners are main elements to tackle aggressive behavior of Russia."

He added, "We are ready to engage in dialogue with Russia but not at the expense of our values or key principles."

Diplomats have, however, said friction remains over how best to handle Russia.

A French government official told the AFP news agency that "Russia is offering a dialogue and we must not be afraid of that, even if the proposals put on the table by Russia are not all acceptable for us."

EU leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Wolfgang Ischinger, the Munich Security Conference chair and former German ambassador to the US, have called for greater EU involvement in the crisis without detailing what that involvement might be beyond "security coordinator."

However, the West has warned of "massive consequences" should Russia launch further incursions into Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured his Ukrainian counterpart, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, of Washington's "unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," the State Department said.

US and Russian officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva next week.

On Wednesday, Russia is expected to meet with NATO in the context of the NATO-Russia Council. It's the first time such a meeting will take place since 2019.