Ukraine’s defense chief: Russia not to stop on demands to keep Ukraine out of NATO

20.01.2022 12:50

Ukrinform

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov believes Russia will not limit itself to the demands to NATO not to accept Ukraine as a new member and will demand NATO’s non-enlargement in general.

That’s according to his interview with the BBC’s Hard Talk, Ukrinform reports.

“The next argument from their side will be Baltic countries, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, they will remind you of the Warsaw agreement, and probably the next target will be the Berlin Wall,” Reznikov told the BBC host.

The defense chief has noted that the Kremlin will be further raising stakes.

“The philosophy of not provoking Russia doesn’t work,” Reznikov underscored.

“The civilized world is still playing chess – according to Zbigniew Brzezinski – with the Russians, while Russians are playing poker with you,” the defense chief noted.

The minister of defense has expressed confidence that Western nations could do more to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression. For example, this could be economic sanctions that should be imposed before Russia actually invades the Ukrainian territory.

As reported earlier, the U.S. administration said Washington had prepared 18 various scenarios of sanctions in case Russia chooses a path of a military incursion into Ukraine.