War Ukraine – Russia: last minute, live | The Kremlin goes into receivership

NATO issues a warning to Putin

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assured this Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “knows the consequences of attacking an allied country” in the face of tensions between Lithuania and Russia by the controls that Vilnius applies to goods entering and leaving the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

The measure, which Lithuania defends as an application of European Union sanctions on Moscow, was described as “illegal and unprecedented” by the Kremlin, which has threatened the Baltic country with retaliation.

“I am sure that Moscow, President Putin understands our guarantees of collective security and understands the consequences of attacking an allied country. It would trigger the response of the entire Alliance.”Stoltenberg warned at a press conference prior to the summit of allied leaders this week in Madrid.

Stoltenberg has shown his concern about the increase in the Russian military presence in Kaliningradwhich “has been taking place with advanced weapons systems for several years”, and has pointed out that is part of the reason the Alliance has modernized its forces and capabilities and increased its presence in that region.

“What we are seeing now is that Lithuania is implementing the economic sanctions agreed by the European Unionand NATO allies welcome European sanctions,” said Stoltenberg, who considered the restrictive measures against Moscow as “important because they ensure that Putin pays a price” for his attack on Ukraine.

The increased presence of the Alliance in the area aims to “send the message that it will fight back” to these countries and, with said signal, “an attack is prevented”has underlined.

Russian aggression against Ukraine has already motivated the Alliance will double its battalions in countries on the eastern flank until reaching eight and that the allies have placed more than 40,000 soldiers under NATO command, many of them in the Baltic countries.

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