WARSAW — The presidents of nine
NATO countries in central
and eastern Europe declared on Sunday they would never recognize the annexation
by Russia of Ukrainian territory.
اضافة اعلان
Their reaction comes two days after Russian
President Vladimir Putin signed treaties to annex four Moscow-occupied regions
of Ukraine — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, and Zaporizhzhia — following
“referendums” the West has dismissed as “sham”.
The presidents issued a joint statement saying they
could not “stay silent in the face of the blatant violation of international
law by the Russian Federation”.
“We reiterate our support for the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Ukraine,” they said.
“We do not recognize and will never recognize
Russian attempts to annex any Ukrainian territory.”
The statement was issued by the presidents of the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
Four of the signatories — Poland, and the three
Baltic states — are on NATO’s eastern flank with Russia.
Two others — Romania and Slovakia — have borders
with Ukraine.
Hungary, which also borders Ukraine, was notably
absent from the list. Its nationalist prime minister,
Viktor Orban, has sought
close ties with Putin in recent years and railed against EU sanctions on the
Kremlin.
The presidents said they stood by a decision NATO
made 14 years ago, supporting Ukraine’s wish to join the transatlantic military
alliance at a future date.
They did not comment on Russia’s annexation of
Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, or on Ukraine’s request last Friday for
fast-track NATO membership following Russia’s annexation maneuver.
NATO members have hesitated at accepting a country
at war — which, by treaty, would oblige the alliance to come to its defense.
NATO’s Article 5 says an attack on one member is
tantamount to attack on all.
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