Ukraine – Danger of war: – Very serious situation

– There is no doubt that it is a very serious situation, says Minister of Defense Odd Roger Enoksen (Sp) to Dagbladet.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden’s spokesman Jen Psaki warned that they believed Russia could attack Ukraine “at any time”. On the same day, Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken boarded a plane to Ukraine.

Russia, for its part, denies that it threatens Ukraine, but believes that it itself is exposed to threats and demands security guarantees from NATO. Several meetings between Russia, the United States and NATO have so far not led to a solution.

Enoksen believes that there is now only one country that is now responsible for de-escalating the situation: Russia.

– Unacceptable

– There is really only one country that is responsible for de-escalating and taking down the tense situation, and that is Russia. They have over 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine and they use military force as a way of negotiating. It is unacceptable, says Enoksen to Dagbladet.

Russia has been adamant that the West must meet demands that are considered impossible to meet. Among these is to guarantee that Ukraine will not become part of NATO, or that Western weapons will not be deployed there.

Russia can also not dictate how other states should choose their alliance membership, it must be up to each state. If Ukraine wants to become a member of NATO, then there must be a choice Ukraine itself makes and where NATO in the next round must decide whether they want Ukraine as a member or not. Signals have been given there, says Enoksen.

– A great strain

On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that new talks in the NATO-Russia Council could take place in a short time.

The hope is to find a political solution to the crisis and avert what Ukraine and the West now fear: a Russian attack.

Hope for negotiations

– Russia has a great responsibility. For NATO, for us and for both the United States and the European Union, negotiations and finding peaceful solutions are the starting point. That is what we want and that is of course the goal. The fact that we have new meetings and conversations this week is positive in that sense, so let’s just hope that it leads and that you are willing to sit down at the negotiating table again, Enoksen continues.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party), who is on a state visit to Berlin, also stated on Tuesday that Russia bears a great responsibility and that he fears a new war in Ukraine.

– Will shock the world

– The military use of force the Russians now show with large troop shifts and gatherings of military forces, Europe has not seen since the end of the Cold War, Støre stated to VG.

When asked if he fears a new war, he replied the following:

– But with so many military forces and so many military interventions being taken from Russia, it would be irresponsible not to fear it.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday. The two will try to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis, the US State Department states.

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