TEMPO.CO, Brussles - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) suspended all practical cooperation with Russia as a protest against Crimea's annexation.
A group of NATO member states foreign ministers, led by the United States, held their first meeting in Brussels, Belgium, since the Russian occupation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the Russian aggression as a threat to European security. "So today [Tuesday, April 1, 2014], we are suspending all practical cooperation with Russia, military and civilian," he said in a news conference. Rasmussen added that he had seen no sign of Russia withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian border.
NATO also decided to draw up plans for strengthening its defenses to boost confidence among alliance countries in East Europe, including former Soviet countries.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry, said that NATO prefers diplomatic ways to resolve Ukraine's crisis. "It is important for everybody in the world to understand that the NATO alliance is taking this attempt to change borders by use of force seriously," he said.
Tensions have escalated since Crimea voted to join Russia in a referendum. Ukraine and the US accused Russia of mobilizing 40,000 troops near Ukraine's eastern border, which raised concerns on Moscow's intention to occupy Ukraine's southeastern regions, home of many ethnic Russians.
REUTERS | CNN
