Daily Times

NATO foreign ministers will hold an emergency videoconference on Friday to discuss Russia’s military build-up around Ukraine, after a raft of demands from Moscow, the alliance said.

Tensions have soared in recent months as the West has warned that the Kremlin could be planning a full-scale invasion of its neighbour after massing some 100,000 troops at the frontier. High-ranking officials from the United States and NATO are set to hold talks with Russia next week after Moscow laid down a list of demands for Washington and the Western military alliance.

The Kremlin is insisting NATO must never grant membership for ex-Soviet Ukraine and must roll back its forces near Russia’s border.

But the West has rejected what it calls a bid by Moscow to dictate the future of independent partners and threatened Moscow with “severe costs” if it launches a fresh incursion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to reassure wary European allies that it will act in concert with them, dismissing suggestions that it could seek a Cold War-style agreement that affects Europe without its participation.

The last meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was held in 2019 and relations between the two former Cold War foes have been frozen amid deep mutual distrust.