If Ukraine joins NATO, Russia’s security threats will increase dramatically — Putin

MOSCOW, Feb.21, (ST). Threats to Russia’s security will increase significantly in the event of Ukraine’s admission to NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

“If Russia faces such a threat as Ukraine’s admission to the North Atlantic Alliance, to NATO, then the threats to our country will increase many times,” Putin said and recalled Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty “from which it is clear that all the countries of the alliance must fight on the side of one of their members if one Ally is considered as under attack.”

Putin recalled that Russia is told that some NATO countries are against Ukraine becoming a member of the alliance. However, a memorandum was inked earlier that opened the doors to NATO for Ukraine and Georgia. “There is no answer to my question “why have you done it?” Under pressure from the US – that’s the answer,” Putin concluded.

The Javelin anti-tank missile system

For his part, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting of the country’s Security Council that the number of US-made Javelin anti-tank missile systems present on the territory of Ukraine is greater than in some NATO countries.

“The practice of beefing up Ukraine with weapons continues with incomprehensible goals, with incomprehensible tasks. When they say that these are defensive weapons, it is hard for me to imagine that these same Javelins are defensive armaments. And their quantity there is greater than in some NATO member states,” the Russian defense chief said.

He added that Ukraine is preparing for major provocations or the use of force to solve the Donbass problem,

The Javelin anti-tank missile system is produced jointly by the US companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The Javelins are operational in the US Army and in the armies of over 20 foreign states. The third-generation weapon is based on the fire-and-forget principle. It has an effective firing range of about 4,000 meters and is capable of piercing 600-750mm armor.

The West won’t budge on NATO’s open doors policy

In this context, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the West won’t budge on NATO’s open doors policy.

“Despite the increasing volume of publications in the media, including in the Western media, of the texts of secret documents that were discussed between Western colleagues and us in the early 90s, 90 and 91, despite the fact that even the West’s lack of intentions  to expand NATO eastward, despite the fact that Mr. [Jens] Stoltenberg, who now holds the post of Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, simply rejects the obvious facts declassified by the British archive and published by [Der] Spiegel. Despite all this, they won’t budge on any weakening of this ‘open doors’ policy,” he said.

On January 26, the US and NATO handed over written responses to Russia on Moscow’s security guarantees that it was demanding from Washington and Brussels. The American side requested that the documents not be made public, although US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg enumerated their basic provisions. According to these statements, the West did not make concessions to Russia considered to be critical, but did indicate directions for further negotiations.

On February 17, the Russian foreign ministry released its response to the US’ proposals. The text was posted on the ministry’s website and handed over to US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan.

Compiled by: Basma Qaddour