In Brussels, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told reporters yesterday, ahead of today’s NATO-Russia Council meeting, that the U.S. and its NATO allies were heading into the meeting “prepared for the conversation” and in lockstep with a commitment to dialogue, but are resolved to impose consequences on Russia should it launch further aggression inside Ukraine. She also made it clear that they would in no way agree to Russia’s central demand that NATO’s march eastward stop, and that Ukraine in particular not be invited to join NATO.
Smith told CNN in an interview that “frankly, I don’t see a lot of compromise” on the issue of NATO’s approach to enlargement. “At this point, let me be very, very clear—no one is suggesting that we alter NATO policy on enlargement,” Smith said. “The door remains open. No one has the right to kick the door shut. And any decision about enlargement will continue to rest between the NATO alliance and the country in question.”
Smith made it clear that Russia would be subjected to endless verbal attacks at the meeting. “I think with a larger number of countries at the table, there will be a broader set of perspectives on how Russia has essentially been the main threat to European security over the past two decades. And obviously, the countries that are sitting at the table have different perspectives on that. They’ve experienced that in different ways,” she said. (https://www.state.gov/online-press-briefing-with-julianne-smith-u-s-ambassador-to-nato/)
