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Countering Russia's Aggression in Ukraine
Representatives of an unprecedented coalition of countries met in Brussels recently, to discuss their continuing effort to counter the Russian government’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
“For the first time ever, foreign ministers from the United States’ Indo-Pacific allies – Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea – participated as a group in a NATO ministerial. Ministers from Georgia, from Finland, from Sweden, and Ukraine also took part, as did the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“The participation of all of these Allies and partners highlights the remarkably broad coalition of countries from around the world that are united in standing with Ukraine and against the Russian government’s aggression – countries that recognize Moscow isn’t just attacking one country, but the entire international rules-based order.”
“The sickening images and accounts coming out of Bucha and other parts of Ukraine have only strengthened our collective resolve and unity,” said Secretary Blinken.
“For every Bucha, there are many more towns Russia has occupied and more towns it is still occupying, places where we must assume Russian soldiers are committing more atrocities right now.”
Allies and partners are taking a number of steps “to stop this aggression, to stand with Ukraine, and hold accountable those who are responsible.”
First, we are increasing the sanctions on Russian financial institutions and on certain individuals, including Vladimir Putin’s adult children.
Second, we are helping Ukraine to defend itself by releasing another 800 million dollars for security and armaments. We also continue to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine and to those fleeing the war.
We are working with our Ukrainian partners to assist in collecting, preserving, and analyzing evidence of atrocities, and making this information available to the appropriate investigative bodies.
We are looking for new ways to shore up the collective security of our NATO Allies, and to increase support for partners who are vulnerable to Russian malign influence, like Bosnia and Herzegovina, and aggression, like Georgia.
Finally, we are writing a new NATO Strategic Concept that will appropriately cast Transatlantic security to reflect what is a rapidly changing landscape.
“The revulsion at what the Russian government is doing is palpable,” said Secretary Blinken. “There’s a greater determination than ever to stand with Ukraine, to shore up and revitalize the international order that Moscow is trying to upend, to bring to bear even greater costs on the Russian government, to ensure that people are held accountable for their crimes.”