Zalkaliani: We Stand by Ukraine
By The Messenger Staff
Monday, January 24, 2022
Georgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Zalkaliani has joined the #StandWithUkraine campaign in support of Ukraine on Twitter.
He writes that Georgia stands by Ukraine.
“It is completely unacceptable to threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country. Georgia is in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We stand by Ukraine,” Zalkaliani wrote.
For more than two months now, Russia has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops along the Ukrainian border. The West fears that Russia is planning an attack on Ukraine. The Kremlin justifies military mobilization for security reasons.
A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was held in Brussels on January 12. After the meeting, Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO offered Russia concrete ways to increase the transparency of military exercises to avoid dangerous military incidents and reduce spatial and cyber threats.
Russia, for its part, has reiterated its demands: the abolition of NATO military positions near Ukraine, the refusal to expand the alliance, and the reversal of a decision made at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine and Georgia would inevitably become members of the alliance.
In response, Jens Stoltenberg said that in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the strengthening of the Eastern European member states of the Alliance would be seriously considered.
At the same time, according to the Baltic states, they are working with NATO to increase the military contingent of the alliance in these countries.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that while the United States was ready to listen to Moscow's concerns, it would be difficult to make any progress until Russia de-escalated the situation along the Ukrainian border.
According to Anthony Blinken, it is impossible to discuss the withdrawal of troops from Eastern Europe and the refusal to expand NATO.
In addition, according to American media, the Biden administration has developed a new, tougher package of sanctions against Russia in case it invades Ukraine.
It should be noted that on January 21, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met again in Geneva.
After the meeting, Blinken said he did not expect Russia and the US to resolve their differences through meetings, but expressed hope that the parties would pursue a diplomatic path and resolve the issue peacefully.
On January 22, the first batch of US military aid arrived in Ukraine. The donation includes approximately lethal weapons, worth GBP200,000 including ammunition. The assistance is worth $200 million.
