Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the NATO alliance is “ready” for conflict with Russia if necessary after the US Embassy in Ukraine accused Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday of committing a war crime by ordering an attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
“Ours is a defensive alliance,” Blinken said prior to a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels. “We seek no conflict. But if conflict comes to us, we are ready for it, and we will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
The secretary of state was echoing remarks made moments earlier by Stoltenberg, who insisted that while the alliance was providing support to Ukraine, “NATO is not party to the conflict.”
“NATO is a defensive alliance. We don’t seek war, conflict with Russia. At the same time, we need to make sure that there is no misunderstanding about our commitment to defend and protect our Allies,” the Secretary-General added.
Stoltenberg also condemned the overnight Russian assault on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, saying it “demonstrates the recklessness of this war and the importance of ending it and the importance of Russia withdrawing all its troops and engag[ing] in good faith in diplomatic efforts.”
Following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers Friday, Stoltenberg warned that “the days to come are likely to be worse, with more death, more suffering, and more destruction.”
In addition to insisting that American troops will not be sent to aid Ukraine, the Biden administration has stopped short of accusing Russian forces of committing war crimes, despite multiple reports of civilian areas being targeted for destruction.
But…
Putin says his forces are NOT bombing Ukrainian cities…
- Vladimir Putin has again insisted that Russia is not shelling Ukrainian cities in a call with Germany’s Scholz
- That is despite medics warning up to 100 people could be buried in apartment rubble in Boradyanka, near Kyiv, and that 49 people died in a cluster bomb attack on Chernihiv yesterday
- Mariupol’s mayor has warned this evening that the city is being ‘simply destroyed’ by withering artillery fire
- Missile fragment even landed in the ground of Zelensky’s second residence, though it didn’t cause damage