The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Brussels on Tuesday, April 5, for a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting on Wednesday.
Before flying to Belgium for the summit, the US envoy stressed the need of coordinating with NATO members and partners to oppose Russia’s actions against Ukrainian citizens. “We obviously have some changing battlefield dynamics with the Russian pullback from parts of Ukraine, especially Kyiv and areas more to the west,” Blinken added.
Moreover, he further added, “We, of course, have the horrific atrocities that have been revealed for all the world to see in Bucha. As I said, it is like a receding tide, and we see in very stark terms the death and destruction that is being left in the wake. So there is obviously a lot of focus on that. The Biden administration was seeking for ways to put pressure on Russia and its President Vladimir Putin while keeping the support for Ukrainians at the top-notch.”
At the same time, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, while addressing a press conference before heading to the Belgian capital, condemned the horrific images of murdered civilians in Bucha and other places and said, “This is unbearable brutality that Europe has not witnessed in many decades.” He added that targeting and murdering civilians is a war crime and also appealed to the Russian President to stop it immediately.
Meanwhile, NATO Allies are favouring investigations, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. He further noted, “All the facts must be established, and those responsible for these atrocities must be brought to justice.”
While describing this week as a critical period in the war, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg predicted that Russian forces would advance farther into eastern and southern Ukraine in the following weeks. According to Stoltenberg, Putin will try to take over the entire Donbass region in the coming weeks, as well as build a land bridge to connect Crimea.
He said, “Allies are determined to provide further support to Ukraine with anti-tank weapons, air-defence systems and other equipment. Allies have also increased humanitarian assistance and financial aid.”
