Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he does not want to be the leader of a country which is begging for something on its knees. Zelensky also said that he is no longer pressing for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), membership for his country.

"Don't want to beg for NATO membership", says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has accused US-led NATO of pushing Russia to a ''breaking point'' in the Ukraine crisis.

At a daily news briefing, he urged the United States to take China's concerns seriously and avoid undermining its rights or interests in handling the Ukraine issue and ties with Russia.

The Chinese Red Cross will also provide a batch of humanitarian assistance worth 5 million yuan ($791,540) to Ukraine, consisting of daily necessities, Zhao added.

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Beijing has refused to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine or call it an invasion while asking Western countries to respect Russia's "legitimate security concerns."

It comes after the CIA's director said Tuesday he believes China leader Xi Jinping has been "unsettled" by Russia's difficulties in invading Ukraine, and by how the war has brought the United States and Europe closer.

"I think President Xi and the Chinese leadership are a little bit unsettled by what they're seeing in Ukraine," Central Intelligence Agency boss William Burns told US lawmakers during a hearing on global threat assessments.

"They did not anticipate the significant difficulties the Russians were going to run into."

Also see |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/why-ukraine-has-been-able-to-stall-russian-advance-460209">Why has Ukraine been able to stall Russian advance?</a>

Nearly two weeks into the invasion, Russian forces are bogged down in Ukraine, suffering as many as 4,000 fatalities, according to the Pentagon's estimate, and encountering unexpectedly strong resistance from Ukrainian forces.

Even if Beijing wanted to, its ability to support President Vladimir Putin by importing more Russian gas and other goods is limited.

Relations with Moscow have warmed since Xi took power in 2012, motivated by shared resentment of Washington, but their interests can conflict. While their militaries hold joint exercises, Putin is uneasy about the growing Chinese economic presence in Central Asia and Russia’s Far East.

“China-Russia relations are at the highest level in history, but the two countries are not an alliance,” said Li Xin, an international relations expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinas-xi-calls-for-maximum-restraint-offers-to-mediate-between-ukraine-and-russia-460498" hreflang="en">China’s Xi calls for ‘maximum restraint’, offers to mediate between Ukraine and Russia</a>

“China doesn’t want to get so involved that it ends up suffering as a result of its support for Russia,” said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist for Capital Economics.

Chinese trade with Russia rose to $146.9 billion last year, but that is less than one-tenth of China’s total $1.6 trillion in trade with the United States and EU.

“It all hinges on whether they’re willing to risk their access to Western markets to help Russia, and I don’t think they are,” said Williams. “It’s just not that big a market.”

China, the world’s second-largest economy, is the only major government not to have condemned the invasion.

China’s multibillion-dollar purchases of Russian gas for its energy-hungry economy have been a lifeline for Putin following trade and financial sanctions imposed in 2014 over his seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.

(With inputs from agencies)

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has accused US-led NATO of pushing Russia to a ''breaking point'' in the Ukraine crisis. At a daily news briefing, he urged the United States to take China's concerns seriously and avoid undermining its rights or interests in handling the Ukraine issue and ties with Russia.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has accused US-led NATO of pushing Russia to a ''breaking point'' in the Ukraine crisis. At a daily news briefing, he urged the United States to take China's concerns seriously and avoid undermining its rights or interests in handling the Ukraine issue and ties with Russia. The Chinese Red Cross will also provide a batch of humanitarian assistance worth 5 million yuan ($791,540) to Ukraine, consisting of daily necessities, Zhao added. Beijing has refused to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine or call it an invasion while asking Western countries to respect Russia's "legitimate security concerns." It comes after the CIA's director said Tuesday he believes China leader Xi Jinping has been "unsettled" by Russia's difficulties in invading Ukraine, and by how the war has brought the United States and Europe closer. "I think President Xi and the Chinese leadership are a little bit unsettled by what they're seeing in Ukraine," Central Intelligence Agency boss William Burns told US lawmakers during a hearing on global threat assessments. "They did not anticipate the significant difficulties the Russians were going to run into." Also see | Why has Ukraine been able to stall Russian advance? Nearly two weeks into the invasion, Russian forces are bogged down in Ukraine, suffering as many as 4,000 fatalities, according to the Pentagon's estimate, and encountering unexpectedly strong resistance from Ukrainian forces. Even if Beijing wanted to, its ability to support President Vladimir Putin by importing more Russian gas and other goods is limited. Relations with Moscow have warmed since Xi took power in 2012, motivated by shared resentment of Washington, but their interests can conflict. While their militaries hold joint exercises, Putin is uneasy about the growing Chinese economic presence in Central Asia and Russia’s Far East. “China-Russia relations are at the highest level in history, but the two countries are not an alliance,” said Li Xin, an international relations expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. Also read | China’s Xi calls for ‘maximum restraint’, offers to mediate between Ukraine and Russia “China doesn’t want to get so involved that it ends up suffering as a result of its support for Russia,” said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist for Capital Economics. Chinese trade with Russia rose to $146.9 billion last year, but that is less than one-tenth of China’s total $1.6 trillion in trade with the United States and EU. “It all hinges on whether they’re willing to risk their access to Western markets to help Russia, and I don’t think they are,” said Williams. “It’s just not that big a market.” China, the world’s second-largest economy, is the only major government not to have condemned the invasion. China’s multibillion-dollar purchases of Russian gas for its energy-hungry economy have been a lifeline for Putin following trade and financial sanctions imposed in 2014 over his seizure of Crimea from Ukraine. (With inputs from agencies)

Ukraine crisis: China accuses NATO of pushing Russia to 'breaking point'

In an apparent attempt at appeasing Moscow, Ukraine's president Zelenskyy said that he is no longer seeking a NATO membership, an issue that was one of Russia's stated reasons for the invasion. To shed more light on this, we are joined by WION's correspondent Olly Barratt and political analyst Andreas Umland.

Ukraine backs away from NATO bid?

In an apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Ukraine's president Zelenskyy said that he is no longer seeking NATO membership, an issue that was one of Russia's stated reasons for the invasion.

Amid Russian offensive, Ukraine backs away from NATO bid?

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at NATO over its refusal to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. What does a no-fly zone mean? Why is NATO refusing to impose one? Molly Gambhir tells you.

Gravitas: Zelensky lashes out at NATO over no-fly zone

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday assured Lithuania of NATO protection and American support as he began a lightning visit to the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as Russia presses ahead with its invasion of Ukraine.

'We are providing US made defence equipments', says Antony Blinken

The largest Ukrainian flag in America was raised in Chicago as people are joining anti-war protests around the world. Ukrainian-Americans were seen in Illinois as the flag was raised. The flag was also raised to draw more support from the US and to call on NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Amidst Russian invasion & anti-war protests, largest Ukrainian flag in America raised in Chicago

The Ukraine conflict has been 'westsplained' enough. On Gravitas Plus, Palki Sharma tells you how Western arrogance & NATO's expansionism are also to blame, how their actions precipitated the crisis in Ukraine.

Gravitas Plus: Did NATO push Ukraine into war?

China has told the United States to pay attention to the negative impact of NATO’s continuous eastward expansion on Russia’s security environment.

During a conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi &nbsp;''encouraged the United States, NATO, the European Union, and Russia to engage in dialogue on an equal footing, face up to the contradictions and problems accumulated over the years.''

Meanwhile, Blinken discussed about "Moscow's premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war against Ukraine," a US State Department spokesperson said.

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"The Secretary noted the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty," spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

"He underscored that the world is acting in unison to repudiate and respond to the Russian aggression, ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price," Price added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin toasted a friendship with "no limits" at a warm meeting in February, but just one month later that bond is being tested by the war in Ukraine.

Also see |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/what-does-aftermath-of-russian-invasion-look-like-for-ukraine-459414" hreflang="en">What does aftermath of Russian invasion look like for Ukraine?</a>

With international outrage and sanctions mounting against Russia, Beijing is scrambling to avoid being tainted by association with Moscow while also maintaining their increasingly close ties.

Once bitter Cold War rivals, China and Russia have moved closer than ever since Xi Jinping took power nearly a decade ago, driven by their shared desire to confront US power.

But China seems to have been caught flat-footed by Russia's military offensive, fierce Ukrainian resistance, and the volume of the resulting international anti-Kremlin backlash.

Beijing, which has long demanded respect for territorial integrity in border disputes with its own neighbours, has been forced into rhetorical contortions on Ukraine to avoid upsetting Russia.

While maintaining lip service to national sovereignty, China has insisted that Moscow's security concerns regarding Ukraine and the broader expansion of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are valid.

It has refused to condemn Moscow, with Chinese government spokespersons remonstrating foreign journalists at press conferences who refer to the assault on Ukraine as an "invasion".

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

China has told the United States to pay attention to the negative impact of NATO’s continuous eastward expansion on Russia’s security environment. During a conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ''encouraged the United States, NATO, the European Union, and Russia to engage in dialogue on an equal footing, face up to the contradictions and problems accumulated over the years.

China has told the United States to pay attention to the negative impact of NATO’s continuous eastward expansion on Russia’s security environment. During a conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ''encouraged the United States, NATO, the European Union, and Russia to engage in dialogue on an equal footing, face up to the contradictions and problems accumulated over the years.'' Meanwhile, Blinken discussed about "Moscow's premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war against Ukraine," a US State Department spokesperson said. "The Secretary noted the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty," spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. "He underscored that the world is acting in unison to repudiate and respond to the Russian aggression, ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price," Price added. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin toasted a friendship with "no limits" at a warm meeting in February, but just one month later that bond is being tested by the war in Ukraine. Also see | What does aftermath of Russian invasion look like for Ukraine? With international outrage and sanctions mounting against Russia, Beijing is scrambling to avoid being tainted by association with Moscow while also maintaining their increasingly close ties. Once bitter Cold War rivals, China and Russia have moved closer than ever since Xi Jinping took power nearly a decade ago, driven by their shared desire to confront US power. But China seems to have been caught flat-footed by Russia's military offensive, fierce Ukrainian resistance, and the volume of the resulting international anti-Kremlin backlash. Beijing, which has long demanded respect for territorial integrity in border disputes with its own neighbours, has been forced into rhetorical contortions on Ukraine to avoid upsetting Russia. While maintaining lip service to national sovereignty, China has insisted that Moscow's security concerns regarding Ukraine and the broader expansion of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are valid. It has refused to condemn Moscow, with Chinese government spokespersons remonstrating foreign journalists at press conferences who refer to the assault on Ukraine as an "invasion". (With inputs from agencies)

China tells US to pay attention to negative impact of NATO’s continuous expansion on Russia’s security

Ukrainian presidential advisor has said the country had halted an advance on the Black Sea port city of Mykolayiv after local authorities said Russian troops had entered.

“All enemy’s attempts to move directly towards Mykolayiv were repulsed,“ Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

If captured, the city of 500,000 people in southern Ukraine, where Russian forces have made the most progress so far, would be the biggest yet to fall.

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Ukraine's military says it is fighting "fierce battles" with Russian forces on the edge of the southern city of Mykolaiv -- which controls the road to the key Black Sea city of Odessa in the west.

Dozens of civilians are being killed in the battle for Chernihiv in the north, with those who remain living in craters or among the ruins.

The port of Mariupol has endured heavy bombardment, a sign of its strategic value to Moscow due to its position between Russian-backed separatist-held eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea Crimean peninsula, which Moscow seized from Kyiv in 2014.

Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea.

Also see |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/what-does-aftermath-of-russian-invasion-look-like-for-ukraine-459414" hreflang="en">What does aftermath of Russian invasion look like for Ukraine?</a>

In response to Russia's invasion, Turkey last month closed its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits linking the Mediterranean and Black Seas to warships under a 1936 pact, limiting passage of some Russian vessels. The convention stipulates however, that warships belonging to Black Sea coastal countries can return to their bases.

The Italian government had also approved deployment of 235 military forces aboard two or three naval vessels, as well as an aircraft as part of surveillance and intelligence-gathering in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

The stakes are high: if Russia manages to conquer the entire Ukrainian coastline up to the Danube Delta,&nbsp;one of Europe's principal shipping lanes,&nbsp;that would create a direct point of contact between Moscow and NATO member Romania.

If Russian forces take the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa, they could "completely take the Ukrainian coast... and consolidate their hold on the Black Sea", said Igor Delanoe, a specialist on the Russian navy at the Franco-Russian Observatory.

"Russia would thus complete what began in 2014" when they annexed the Crimean peninsula, extending their influence over the Black Sea, according to Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier of the Thomas More think-tank, which is based in Paris and Brussels. 
&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Ukrainian presidential advisor has said the country had halted an advance on the Black Sea port city of Mykolayiv after local authorities said Russian troops had entered.

Ukrainian presidential advisor has said the country had halted an advance on the Black Sea port city of Mykolayiv after local authorities said Russian troops had entered. “All enemy’s attempts to move directly towards Mykolayiv were repulsed,“ Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. If captured, the city of 500,000 people in southern Ukraine, where Russian forces have made the most progress so far, would be the biggest yet to fall. Ukraine's military says it is fighting "fierce battles" with Russian forces on the edge of the southern city of Mykolaiv -- which controls the road to the key Black Sea city of Odessa in the west. Dozens of civilians are being killed in the battle for Chernihiv in the north, with those who remain living in craters or among the ruins. The port of Mariupol has endured heavy bombardment, a sign of its strategic value to Moscow due to its position between Russian-backed separatist-held eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea Crimean peninsula, which Moscow seized from Kyiv in 2014. Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea. Also see | What does aftermath of Russian invasion look like for Ukraine? In response to Russia's invasion, Turkey last month closed its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits linking the Mediterranean and Black Seas to warships under a 1936 pact, limiting passage of some Russian vessels. The convention stipulates however, that warships belonging to Black Sea coastal countries can return to their bases. The Italian government had also approved deployment of 235 military forces aboard two or three naval vessels, as well as an aircraft as part of surveillance and intelligence-gathering in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The stakes are high: if Russia manages to conquer the entire Ukrainian coastline up to the Danube Delta, one of Europe's principal shipping lanes, that would create a direct point of contact between Moscow and NATO member Romania. If Russian forces take the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa, they could "completely take the Ukrainian coast... and consolidate their hold on the Black Sea", said Igor Delanoe, a specialist on the Russian navy at the Franco-Russian Observatory. "Russia would thus complete what began in 2014" when they annexed the Crimean peninsula, extending their influence over the Black Sea, according to Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier of the Thomas More think-tank, which is based in Paris and Brussels. (With inputs from agencies)

Why is Ukraine crisis threatening to upset delicate Black Sea equilibrium?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at NATO after it rejected its request for no-fly zone. This comes as more and more Russian troops enter Ukrainian cities.

West denies no-fly zone over Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky lashes out at NATO

Watch: Ukraine’s Zelensky lashes out at NATO over no-fly zone request | Russian invasion

Amid heightened tensions in eastern Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (March 4) reacted sharply to the decision of NATO to reject the no-fly zone over Ukraine.&nbsp;

Zelensky said that the alliance had given Russia the green light to continue relentless attacks and bombing on the Ukrainian cities, that has killed hundreds of civilians, including children and led to massive migration of people.&nbsp;

During a televised address on Friday, Zelensky said, "Today there was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit where it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal."&nbsp;

"Today, the leadership of the alliance gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages, having refused to set up a no-fly zone," he added.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-at-least-three-plots-to-assassinate-ukrainian-president-zelensky-foiled-say-reports-459114">At least three plots to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelensky foiled, say reports</a>

Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air after President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" on February 24. Zelensky had appealed to NATO to set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine.&nbsp;

However, on Friday, NATO rejected Ukraine's call to help it protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes.&nbsp;

Russia has shelled residential areas and civilian infrastructure, as well as captured two nuclear sites.

While the West condemned Putin, members of the 30-strong NATO are bound to defend each other in case of attack and are wary of sinking into a war with nuclear-armed Russia. The EU threatened more sanctions but it was not clear what it could do.&nbsp;

IN PICS |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/this-is-ukraines-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-the-largest-nuke-power-plant-in-europe-targetted-by-russia-458806">Significance of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuke power plant in Europe targetted by Russia</a>

WATCH |&nbsp;Gravitas: WION Ground Report from Lviv

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(With inputs from agencies)

Amid heightened tensions in eastern Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (March 4) reacted sharply to the decision of NATO to reject the no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Amid heightened tensions in eastern Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (March 4) reacted sharply to the decision of NATO to reject the no-fly zone over Ukraine. Zelensky said that the alliance had given Russia the green light to continue relentless attacks and bombing on the Ukrainian cities, that has killed hundreds of civilians, including children and led to massive migration of people. During a televised address on Friday, Zelensky said, "Today there was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit where it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal." "Today, the leadership of the alliance gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages, having refused to set up a no-fly zone," he added. ALSO READ | At least three plots to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelensky foiled, say reports Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air after President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" on February 24. Zelensky had appealed to NATO to set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine. However, on Friday, NATO rejected Ukraine's call to help it protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes. Russia has shelled residential areas and civilian infrastructure, as well as captured two nuclear sites. While the West condemned Putin, members of the 30-strong NATO are bound to defend each other in case of attack and are wary of sinking into a war with nuclear-armed Russia. The EU threatened more sanctions but it was not clear what it could do. IN PICS | Significance of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuke power plant in Europe targetted by Russia WATCH | Gravitas: WION Ground Report from Lviv × (With inputs from agencies)

'Green light for bombing': Zelensky lashes out at NATO for ruling out Ukraine no-fly zone

After months of speculations, calculations, assessments and back-to-back diplomatic talks, Ukraine is under attack from land and sea, this is the biggest attack in Europe since the cold war. NATO to hold an emergency meeting on the Russian invasion.

NATO Foreign Ministers to meet in Brussels on March 4 amid Russian invasion of Ukraine

In his first State of the Union address, US President Joe Biden touted his success in uniting much of the world against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden said Kyiv is on the frontline of the global battle between democracies and autocracies, and that democracy will prevail. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.

Biden: US and NATO allies will remain united | WION-VOA CO-Production

Ahead of the Foreign Ministers' meet, NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg stated that the defence alliance condemns Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Stoltenberg also called on Russia President Vladimir Putin to stop the war.

NATO Chief Stoltenberg calls on Putin to stop the war

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked global condemnation this included sanctions against Russia and military support to Ukraine but for the West to declare Ukraine as a no-fly zone is off the table now.

NATO rejects Ukraine's 'no-fly zone' request

Ahead of the meeting on the Russian invasion, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned Moscow's aggression and reiterated that it has an iron-clad alliance, Listen in.

Ukraine crisis: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemns Russia's aggression

After months of speculations, calculations, assessments and back-to-back diplomatic talks, Ukraine is under attack from land and sea, this is the biggest attack in Europe since the cold war. NATO Foreign Ministers held an emergency meeting in Brussels.

NATO activates its rapid response force after Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels

NATO foreign ministers are set to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The allies have been bolstering their Eastern flank since Russia began deploying its troops near Ukraine weeks before the invasion.

NATO FMs to meet in Brussels on March 4

A Ukrainian activist ripped into British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not doing enough to deter Russia. She accused NATO of being scared of World War III. Did the West really hold back in sanctioning Putin? Palki Sharma calls out Western half-measures.

Gravitas: Ukrainian activist rips into NATO leadership

The Western nations have united against Russia in sending weapons and ammunition to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. US, Canada and Australia have also offered military aid.

EU's synchronised support for Ukraine: Nations unite in sending arms to Ukraine

Scattered around the forest in Poland like archaeological ruins, the crumbling concrete bunkers for decades stored Soviet nuclear warheads. Today, they store only memories — deeply painful for Poland, joyous for the Kremlin — of the vanished empire that President Vladimir Putin wants to rebuild, starting with his war in Ukraine.

“Nobody here trusted the Russians before and we certainly don’t trust them now,” said Mieczyslaw Zuk, a former Polish soldier who oversees the once top-secret nuclear site. The bunkers were abandoned by the Soviet military in 1990 as Moscow’s hegemony over East and Central Europe unraveled in what Putin has described as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

Now Eastern European countries fear a catastrophe of their own could be in the making, as Putin seeks to turn back the clock and reclaim Russia’s lost sphere of influence, perilously close to their frontiers. Even leaders in the region who have long supported Putin are sounding the alarm.

Warnings about Moscow’s intentions, often dismissed until the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as “Russophobia” by those without the experience of living in proximity to Russia, are now widely accepted as prescient. And while there has been debate about whether efforts to expand NATO into the former Soviet bloc were a provocation to Putin, his assault on Ukraine has left countries that joined the U.S.-led military alliance convinced they made the right decision.

A Russian attack on Poland or other former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact that now belong to NATO is still highly unlikely, but Putin has “made the unthinkable possible,” warned Gabrielus Landsbergis, the foreign minister of Lithuania, Poland’s neighbor to the north.

“We live in a new reality. If Putin is not stopped he will go further,” Landsbergis said. His country, bordering both Russia and its ally Belarus, has declared a state of emergency.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland gave his own warning of perhaps worse to come. “We should be under no illusions: This could be just the beginning,” he wrote in the Financial Times. “Tomorrow Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Poland, could be next in line.”

Fear that Putin is capable of just about anything, even using nuclear weapons, is just “common sense,” said Toomas Ilves, a former president of Estonia.

Ilves announced this week on Twitter that he was “accepting apologies” for all the “patronizing nonsense from Western Europeans” who complained that “we Estonians were paranoid about Russian behavior.”

In a telephone interview, Ilves said he had not received any apologies yet but was gratified to see Russia’s “shills and useful idiots getting their comeuppance.”

Western Europeans who once scoffed at his dark view of Russia, he added, “have suddenly become East Europeans” in their fearful attitudes. “This past week marks the end of a 30-year-long error that we can all come together and sing kumbaya.”

Memories of Soviet hegemony over what is now NATO’s eastern flank — imposed after the Red Army liberated the region from Nazi occupation at the end of World War II — vary from country to country depending on history, geography and convoluted domestic political struggles.

For Poland, a nation repeatedly invaded by Russia over the centuries, they are of humiliation and oppression. Baltic states, extinguished as independent nations by Stalin in 1940 and dragooned at gunpoint into the Soviet Union, feel much the same way.

Others have fonder recollections, particularly Bulgaria, where pro-Russian sentiment has long run deep, at least until last week, and Serbia, which has for centuries seen Russia as its protector.

Putin’s war to bring Ukraine to heel, however, has united the region in alarm, with even Serbia voicing dismay. On Monday, Bulgaria’s prime minister fired his defense minister, who caused outrage by suggesting that the conflict in Ukraine should not be called a war but “a special military operation,” the Kremlin’s euphemism for its invasion.

Only Milorad Dodik, the belligerent, pro-Kremlin leader of Bosnia’s ethnic Serbian enclave, Republika Srpska, has shown any sympathy for Putin’s war, stating that Russia’s reasons for its invasion “were received with understanding.”

Outrage over Russian aggression, even in countries historically sympathetic to Moscow, has derailed years of work by Russian diplomats and intelligence operatives to cultivate allies like Ataka, an ultranationalist political party in Bulgaria that is so close to Russia that it once launched its election campaign in Moscow.

Even Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who usually delights in defying fellow European leaders and stood with Putin last month in the Kremlin, has now endorsed a raft of sanctions imposed on Russia by the European bloc. He is still blocking transport of weapons into Ukraine across Hungary’s border but has curbed his previously gushing enthusiasm for Putin.

So, too, has Milos Zeman, the previously Kremlin-friendly president of the Czech Republic. “I admit I was wrong,” Zeman said this week.

In Poland, traditionally one of the most anti-Russian countries in the region, the populist governing party, Law and Justice, has gone almost overnight from aligning itself with Moscow in its hostility to LGBTQ rights and the defense of traditional values to becoming one of Putin’s most robust critics, offering its territory for the delivery of weapons into Ukraine and taking in more than 450,000 Ukrainians who have fled the war.

Gas stations and ATMs in southeastern Poland along the border with Ukraine have been besieged in recent days by people worried that they might need to get out fast. That possibility hit home Monday evening when missiles slammed into a Ukrainian village just a few miles from the frontier, rattling windows in nearby houses on the Polish side.

Just two weeks before Russian troops poured into Ukraine, Poland’s prime minister joined Orban and Marine Le Pen, the far-right French presidential candidate who has frequently spoken up for Russia, at a meeting in Madrid focused on attacking the European Union and its liberal attitudes on immigration.

In recent days, however, Morawiecki has dropped the hostility to the European bloc to focus instead on opposing the Kremlin. He has lobbied for tough sanctions on Russia, traveling to Berlin to personally “shake Germany’s conscience” and nudge it toward a dramatic U-turn in its policy toward Russia. On a recent visit to Warsaw, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hailed Poland as “one of our most stalwart allies.”

On Friday, Poland hosted a summit meeting with nine regional leaders to rally opposition to Russia’s invasion and discuss ways to help Ukraine. “We have woken up to a completely new reality,” Polish President Andrzej Duda told the gathering, lamenting that it had taken a Russian invasion to interrupt “the peaceful sleep of wealthy Europeans.”

A nation of Slavs like Ukraine, Poland has long been viewed as a wayward family member by more messianic-minded Russian nationalists, whose views Putin channeled last week in his justification for the war. Russia’s foreign minister recently sneered at Poland and other new NATO members as “territories orphaned” by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union.

To demonstrate that Poland has no desire to rejoin what Moscow imagines as its happy, obedient but sadly divided family, the mayor of Warsaw announced Tuesday that refugees from Ukraine would be housed in apartment blocks built during the Cold War to house Soviet diplomats and left abandoned since because of legal disputes over ownership.

Few people expect Russia to try to bring Poles back into a Moscow-dominated Slavic “family” by force, as it is now trying to do with Ukrainians. Doing that, said Tomasz Smura, director of research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, a research group in Warsaw, “would mean that Putin has gone totally mad.”

At the former Soviet warhead bunker in Podborsko, northwestern Poland, Zuk said he never really expected the Russians to try to retake their lost, Soviet-era military outposts. But he still wondered why, just before pulling out of Podobsko with its nuclear weapons, the Soviet military drew up a maintenance schedule for cranes used to lift warheads and other equipment at the facility stretching years into the future.

“It seems they did not think they were leaving forever,” Zuk said, standing in a cavernous underground hall once crammed with warheads and long off limits to all but Soviet officers. In its attitude toward Poland, he added, Russia has always acted “like a master toward a servant,” a relationship that it is now trying to impose on Ukraine. “I worry that Putin may want to get hold of Poland and the Baltic states, too,” he said. 
&nbsp;

Scattered around the forest in Poland like archaeological ruins, the crumbling concrete bunkers for decades stored Soviet nuclear warheads. Today, they store only memories — deeply painful for Poland, joyous for the Kremlin — of the vanished empire that President Vladimir Putin wants to rebuild, starting with his war in Ukraine.

Scattered around the forest in Poland like archaeological ruins, the crumbling concrete bunkers for decades stored Soviet nuclear warheads. Today, they store only memories — deeply painful for Poland, joyous for the Kremlin — of the vanished empire that President Vladimir Putin wants to rebuild, starting with his war in Ukraine. “Nobody here trusted the Russians before and we certainly don’t trust them now,” said Mieczyslaw Zuk, a former Polish soldier who oversees the once top-secret nuclear site. The bunkers were abandoned by the Soviet military in 1990 as Moscow’s hegemony over East and Central Europe unraveled in what Putin has described as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” Now Eastern European countries fear a catastrophe of their own could be in the making, as Putin seeks to turn back the clock and reclaim Russia’s lost sphere of influence, perilously close to their frontiers. Even leaders in the region who have long supported Putin are sounding the alarm. Warnings about Moscow’s intentions, often dismissed until the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as “Russophobia” by those without the experience of living in proximity to Russia, are now widely accepted as prescient. And while there has been debate about whether efforts to expand NATO into the former Soviet bloc were a provocation to Putin, his assault on Ukraine has left countries that joined the U.S.-led military alliance convinced they made the right decision. A Russian attack on Poland or other former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact that now belong to NATO is still highly unlikely, but Putin has “made the unthinkable possible,” warned Gabrielus Landsbergis, the foreign minister of Lithuania, Poland’s neighbor to the north. “We live in a new reality. If Putin is not stopped he will go further,” Landsbergis said. His country, bordering both Russia and its ally Belarus, has declared a state of emergency. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland gave his own warning of perhaps worse to come. “We should be under no illusions: This could be just the beginning,” he wrote in the Financial Times. “Tomorrow Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Poland, could be next in line.” Fear that Putin is capable of just about anything, even using nuclear weapons, is just “common sense,” said Toomas Ilves, a former president of Estonia. Ilves announced this week on Twitter that he was “accepting apologies” for all the “patronizing nonsense from Western Europeans” who complained that “we Estonians were paranoid about Russian behavior.” In a telephone interview, Ilves said he had not received any apologies yet but was gratified to see Russia’s “shills and useful idiots getting their comeuppance.” Western Europeans who once scoffed at his dark view of Russia, he added, “have suddenly become East Europeans” in their fearful attitudes. “This past week marks the end of a 30-year-long error that we can all come together and sing kumbaya.” Memories of Soviet hegemony over what is now NATO’s eastern flank — imposed after the Red Army liberated the region from Nazi occupation at the end of World War II — vary from country to country depending on history, geography and convoluted domestic political struggles. For Poland, a nation repeatedly invaded by Russia over the centuries, they are of humiliation and oppression. Baltic states, extinguished as independent nations by Stalin in 1940 and dragooned at gunpoint into the Soviet Union, feel much the same way. Others have fonder recollections, particularly Bulgaria, where pro-Russian sentiment has long run deep, at least until last week, and Serbia, which has for centuries seen Russia as its protector. Putin’s war to bring Ukraine to heel, however, has united the region in alarm, with even Serbia voicing dismay. On Monday, Bulgaria’s prime minister fired his defense minister, who caused outrage by suggesting that the conflict in Ukraine should not be called a war but “a special military operation,” the Kremlin’s euphemism for its invasion. Only Milorad Dodik, the belligerent, pro-Kremlin leader of Bosnia’s ethnic Serbian enclave, Republika Srpska, has shown any sympathy for Putin’s war, stating that Russia’s reasons for its invasion “were received with understanding.” Outrage over Russian aggression, even in countries historically sympathetic to Moscow, has derailed years of work by Russian diplomats and intelligence operatives to cultivate allies like Ataka, an ultranationalist political party in Bulgaria that is so close to Russia that it once launched its election campaign in Moscow. Even Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who usually delights in defying fellow European leaders and stood with Putin last month in the Kremlin, has now endorsed a raft of sanctions imposed on Russia by the European bloc. He is still blocking transport of weapons into Ukraine across Hungary’s border but has curbed his previously gushing enthusiasm for Putin. So, too, has Milos Zeman, the previously Kremlin-friendly president of the Czech Republic. “I admit I was wrong,” Zeman said this week. In Poland, traditionally one of the most anti-Russian countries in the region, the populist governing party, Law and Justice, has gone almost overnight from aligning itself with Moscow in its hostility to LGBTQ rights and the defense of traditional values to becoming one of Putin’s most robust critics, offering its territory for the delivery of weapons into Ukraine and taking in more than 450,000 Ukrainians who have fled the war. Gas stations and ATMs in southeastern Poland along the border with Ukraine have been besieged in recent days by people worried that they might need to get out fast. That possibility hit home Monday evening when missiles slammed into a Ukrainian village just a few miles from the frontier, rattling windows in nearby houses on the Polish side. Just two weeks before Russian troops poured into Ukraine, Poland’s prime minister joined Orban and Marine Le Pen, the far-right French presidential candidate who has frequently spoken up for Russia, at a meeting in Madrid focused on attacking the European Union and its liberal attitudes on immigration. In recent days, however, Morawiecki has dropped the hostility to the European bloc to focus instead on opposing the Kremlin. He has lobbied for tough sanctions on Russia, traveling to Berlin to personally “shake Germany’s conscience” and nudge it toward a dramatic U-turn in its policy toward Russia. On a recent visit to Warsaw, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hailed Poland as “one of our most stalwart allies.” On Friday, Poland hosted a summit meeting with nine regional leaders to rally opposition to Russia’s invasion and discuss ways to help Ukraine. “We have woken up to a completely new reality,” Polish President Andrzej Duda told the gathering, lamenting that it had taken a Russian invasion to interrupt “the peaceful sleep of wealthy Europeans.” A nation of Slavs like Ukraine, Poland has long been viewed as a wayward family member by more messianic-minded Russian nationalists, whose views Putin channeled last week in his justification for the war. Russia’s foreign minister recently sneered at Poland and other new NATO members as “territories orphaned” by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. To demonstrate that Poland has no desire to rejoin what Moscow imagines as its happy, obedient but sadly divided family, the mayor of Warsaw announced Tuesday that refugees from Ukraine would be housed in apartment blocks built during the Cold War to house Soviet diplomats and left abandoned since because of legal disputes over ownership. Few people expect Russia to try to bring Poles back into a Moscow-dominated Slavic “family” by force, as it is now trying to do with Ukrainians. Doing that, said Tomasz Smura, director of research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, a research group in Warsaw, “would mean that Putin has gone totally mad.” At the former Soviet warhead bunker in Podborsko, northwestern Poland, Zuk said he never really expected the Russians to try to retake their lost, Soviet-era military outposts. But he still wondered why, just before pulling out of Podobsko with its nuclear weapons, the Soviet military drew up a maintenance schedule for cranes used to lift warheads and other equipment at the facility stretching years into the future. “It seems they did not think they were leaving forever,” Zuk said, standing in a cavernous underground hall once crammed with warheads and long off limits to all but Soviet officers. In its attitude toward Poland, he added, Russia has always acted “like a master toward a servant,” a relationship that it is now trying to impose on Ukraine. “I worry that Putin may want to get hold of Poland and the Baltic states, too,” he said.

Putin’s war to bring Ukraine to heel unites Eastern Europe in alarm

As the Russia-Ukraine crisis intensifies, NATO has deployed Rapid Response Force. French troop arrived in Romania.

NATO beefs up Eastern flank defence as French troop arrives in Romania amid Russian invasion

NATO allies have rushed to bolster their eastern flank after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of troops backed by air and naval support have been sent to protect allies near Russia and Ukraine.

NATO chief calls on Russia to end war in Ukraine, activates its rapid response force

Sixth day of Russian invasion: NATO secretary general and the Estonian PM are holding joint news conference over the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

NATO secretary general and Estonian PM are holding joint news conference over Russia-Ukraine crisis

As the Russia-Ukraine crisis intensifies, NATO has deployed Rapid Response Force.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict: NATO deploys rapid response force

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict intensifies, NATO leaders convene for a virtual summit. US President Joe Biden said he is deploying additional troops in Germany but won’t deploy any troops to fight Russia in Ukraine.

Russia-Ukraine crisis: U.S. deploys troops in Germany; NATO leaders convene for virtual summit

The NATO alliance is deploying its rapid response force for the first time ever to bolster its eastern flank in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.&nbsp;

In response to Europe’s biggest security crisis in decades, NATO&nbsp;Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg&nbsp;said, “We are now deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time in a collective defence context. We speak about thousands of troops. We speak about air and maritime capabilities.”

The 40,000 troops strong NATO Response Force is designed to be ready 365 days a year to respond within two or three days when a security crisis emerges.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/russia-ukraine-conflict-russia-mounts-offensive-on-ukrainian-cities-as-the-fighting-continues-456793/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

“There must be no space for miscalculation or misunderstanding. We will do what it takes to protect and defend every ally, and every inch of NATO territory,” Stoltenberg said.

Parts of a spearhead unit known in NATO jargon as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, which is currently led by France, will also be sent. Its main brigade of about 5,000 troops now consists of a joint Franco-German unit based in Lille, France with contributions from Spain, Portugal, and Poland.

The announcement came after NATO members, ranging from Russia’s neighbour Estonia in the north down around the west of conflict-hit Ukraine to Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast, triggered urgent consultations Thursday about their security amid concerns from the invasion.

The world’s biggest security organization previously had around 5,000 troops stationed in the Baltic countries,&nbsp;Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,&nbsp;and Poland, but has significantly beefed up its defenses over the past three months.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/in-pics-from-new-york-to-japan-anti-war-demonstrations-take-over-the-streets-456380">In Pics: From New York to Japan, anti-war demonstrations take over the streets</a>

Germany said Friday that it plans to deploy troops and a Patriot anti-missile system to Slovakia, which is a member of NATO and one of the countries to have triggered the urgent consultations, as part of an “enhanced vigilance activity battlegroup.”

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US General Tod D. Wolters, said the new contributions “represent a flexible, combat credible force that can be employed in multiple ways and we are utilising fully their inherent agility.”

NATO began beefing up its defences in northeastern Europe after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Recently, some members have also sent troops, aircraft, and warships to the Black Sea region, near allies Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

Created in 2002 to accelerate NATO's response capability, the force consists of land, air, sea, and special operation forces and is intended to respond to a wide gamut of challenges, including disaster relief and evacuations.&nbsp;

In addition to exercises, the Response Force has so far carried out security missions, such as to the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, and contributed to disaster relief, including after Hurricane Katrina in the United States and a devastating earthquake in Pakistan.

In August 2021, elements of the force also supported the evacuation and relocation of Afghans who worked alongside NATO and their families.

(With inputs from agencies)

The NATO alliance is deploying its rapid response force for the first time ever to bolster its eastern flank in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In response to Europe’s biggest security crisis in decades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, “We are now deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time in a collective defence context.

The NATO alliance is deploying its rapid response force for the first time ever to bolster its eastern flank in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In response to Europe’s biggest security crisis in decades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, “We are now deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time in a collective defence context. We speak about thousands of troops. We speak about air and maritime capabilities.” The 40,000 troops strong NATO Response Force is designed to be ready 365 days a year to respond within two or three days when a security crisis emerges. “There must be no space for miscalculation or misunderstanding. We will do what it takes to protect and defend every ally, and every inch of NATO territory,” Stoltenberg said. Parts of a spearhead unit known in NATO jargon as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, which is currently led by France, will also be sent. Its main brigade of about 5,000 troops now consists of a joint Franco-German unit based in Lille, France with contributions from Spain, Portugal, and Poland. The announcement came after NATO members, ranging from Russia’s neighbour Estonia in the north down around the west of conflict-hit Ukraine to Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast, triggered urgent consultations Thursday about their security amid concerns from the invasion. The world’s biggest security organization previously had around 5,000 troops stationed in the Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Poland, but has significantly beefed up its defenses over the past three months. In Pics: From New York to Japan, anti-war demonstrations take over the streets Germany said Friday that it plans to deploy troops and a Patriot anti-missile system to Slovakia, which is a member of NATO and one of the countries to have triggered the urgent consultations, as part of an “enhanced vigilance activity battlegroup.” NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US General Tod D. Wolters, said the new contributions “represent a flexible, combat credible force that can be employed in multiple ways and we are utilising fully their inherent agility.” NATO began beefing up its defences in northeastern Europe after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Recently, some members have also sent troops, aircraft, and warships to the Black Sea region, near allies Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. Created in 2002 to accelerate NATO's response capability, the force consists of land, air, sea, and special operation forces and is intended to respond to a wide gamut of challenges, including disaster relief and evacuations. In addition to exercises, the Response Force has so far carried out security missions, such as to the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, and contributed to disaster relief, including after Hurricane Katrina in the United States and a devastating earthquake in Pakistan. In August 2021, elements of the force also supported the evacuation and relocation of Afghans who worked alongside NATO and their families. (With inputs from agencies)

NATO announces 'historic' deployment of forces to bolster Eastern Europe after Ukraine invasion

Russia has vetoed the United Nations Security Council resolution over the Ukraine crisis. In the UNSC meeting, 11 members have voted in favor of the resolution.

US envoy to UN slams Russia as it vetos UNSC resolution on invasion of Ukraine

NATO has ordered military commanders to intensify preparations to defend allied territory putting hundreds of warplanes and ships on alert and at the same time agreeing to increase troop numbers on its eastern flank.

EU Chief: Stability of Europe is at stake

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