On March 4, Antony Blinken, the U.S. State Secretary, met with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg at NATO HQs in Brussels, Belgium, said that Western allies and partners aren’t seeking conflict with Moscow, but they’re prepared for any scenario. Speaking to the media before NATO Foreign Ministers’ conference, the US top diplomat said that the military alliance would defend the entire NATO territory if any such scene comes.

Foreign Ministers of the NATO countries held an extraordinary meeting amidst escalating Ukraine crisis. They’re also joined by European Union High Representative, and Sweden and Finland Foreign Ministers. Moreover, Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs Minister of Ukraine, addressed his equals in a video message, and highlighted worsening humanitarian condition in the post-Soviet state.

NATO Foreign Ministers condemned the vicious, unprovoked and unjustified incursion of Ukraine and expressed unity and support for the nerve of Ukrainians. Ministers also addressed the immediate response of the Western military alliance to the Ukraine crisis.

Along with several thousand additional military personnel that allies and partners have already deployed to NATO’s Eastern part, OTAN is deploying its ‘Response Force’ for the first time. Deployed NATO high readiness force has more than 130 planes and more than two hundred ships on heightened alert.

Euro-Atlantic Security

Mr. Stoltenberg said that Foreign Ministers also negotiated the necessity to support allies who might be at increased risk of Russia-triggered war in Ukraine spilling-over. However, he added that North Atlantic Alliance is liable to make sure the war doesn’t intensify and spread beyond the one-time Soviet republic – Ukraine. That’d be even more destructive and unsafe.

Furthermore, the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting was a chance for the diplomats to address the longer-term consequences of Moscow’s hostility for Euro-Atlantic nations’ security. Jens Stoltenberg repeated that Moscow’s hostility had created a new standard for their security and peace, where essential principles are challenged through the use of power.

In this new normal, NATO Foreign Ministers reached an agreement that the relationship of NATO nations with Moscow has profoundly changed for the long-term; however, they’re willing to keep diplomatic paths open to prevent unintended escalation, miscalculation, or misunderstanding.

The Secretary-General participated in the extraordinary meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council. That -member meeting was a chance for Stoltenberg to hold an informal exchange with European Union Foreign Ministers on the war in its neighboring country and inform them about the talks that the Alliance ministers had previously in the day. EU and NATO are united in strongly criticizing Moscow’s incursion of Ukraine.