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NATO Secretary General failed to help Ukraine resolve its main issue — Russian official

Russian Federation Council member Konstantin Kosachev commented on the speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivered to the Ukrainian parliament

Russian Federation Council member Konstantin Kosachev Mikhail Tereschenko/TASS

Russian Federation Council member Konstantin Kosachev

© Mikhail Tereschenko/TASS

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. In his address to Ukraine’s Verkhnovna Rada (parliament) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg could have called on Ukraine to adhere to the Minsk Agreements and the Stenmeier formula, however, the NATO chief preferred to attack Russia, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev said on Thursday.

"Stoltenberg had a real chance to help Ukraine resolve its most crucial issue, if he called to end the refusal to adhere to the Minsk Agreements and the Steinmeier formula from the side of the loudest Ukrainian nationalists pressuring President [of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky and blocking the disengagement of forces in the conflict zone. But alas, all we heard was another litany of complaints against Russia and calls for it to withdraw some troops from Ukraine. Even Zelensky has a different attitude right now, I hope," Kosachev wrote on his official Facebook account.

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Russia, Belarus forced to respond to NATO’s build-up near their borders — top brass

Commenting on Stoltenberg’s speech, the senator concluded that the North Atlantic Alliance’s leadership did not learn from the events in Ukraine and Europe after the end of the Cold War. "They still try to cure diseases with what caused them: they are promising NATO membership to Ukraine, they wish to 'push' the alliance’s borders to the east, inciting conflict, dividing societies, forcing Russia to react," he said.

By stating that all NATO states support Ukraine and are on its side, the head of the alliance "undermined a potential mission of Brussels to act as a mediator or an independent party," Kosachev added. "We will take that into account and we will cite that when discussing sending peacekeepers to conflict zone. Thus, 'every NATO state' is now automatically excluded from offering to send peacekeepers, as ruled by the leader of the alliance," he noted.

On the outcomes of the NATO-Ukraine commission with the participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the sides signed an agreement confirming Ukraine’s course for NATO integration. The Ukrainian leader confirmed that Kiev is ready for closer cooperation with NATO.

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