“The age of engagement with Russia is over,” UK Secretary of State Liz Tross said at a dinner with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, according to a statement from the UK Foreign Office released before dinner.
In his comments, Truss told his NATO colleagues that “the founding law of NATO-Russia is dead and it is time to abandon the outdated approach in dealing with Russia.”
The law, signed in 1997, states in the original document that “NATO and Russia do not consider each other to be enemies.”
“The engagement age with Russia is over. We need a new approach to security in Europe based on recession, security and prevention, “said Truss.
NATO meeting: Truss’ comments came during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.
According to a report sent to CNN, Truss underscored that NATO would not allow “security vacuums” on the alliance’s eastern frontiers and that it would “reconsider” support for “countries caught in the web of Russian influence” such as Georgia, Moldova, Sweden and Finland.
The foreign secretary urged his partners to tighten sanctions on Ukraine “quickly and decisively … to ensure Putin’s defeat.”
According to a version published in The Telegraph on Wednesday, Truss said he was working with his G7 counterparts to impose further sanctions on Russian banks. In the article, Truss defended NATO’s increasing spending and presence in Eastern Europe.
“For NATO to be at the forefront of global security, it must be courageous. President Eisenhower, the coalition’s first commander, said:” History has not long believed in freedom for the weak or intimidated, “the foreign secretary wrote.
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