Strategy of not provoking Russia doesn’t work and won’t work - Ukraine’s defense chief

Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov of Ukraine says the strategy of not provoking Russia does not work and will not work.

That’s according to the Financial Times, as reported by Ukrinform.

Reznikov also said the western powers’ fears of confronting Putin from a position of strength were misguided.

“Not provoking Russia – that strategy does not work and will not work,” the defense chief said, recalling how Moscow had invaded Georgia in 2008 after Berlin and Paris had blocked the country’s path to becoming a NATO Ally in fear of provoking Russia.

Read also: Aggression against Ukraine would come at high price for Russia, NATO agrees

According to Reznikov, Moscow's "red line" against Ukraine's accession to NATO was only part of Russia's "salami-slicing tactics," applied against the alliance.

“My perception is the US has understood these threats,” the defense minister stressed. “They have to keep the alliance unified.”

It should be recalled that in early December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow insists on specific terms of developing legal guarantees of NATO eastward non-expansion.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed the Allies' decision on Ukraine's future membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and stressed the fact that Russia has “no veto” over it.

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