Russia Threatens To Target Foreign Supply Line Convoys To Ukraine
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: March 12, 2022 09:30PM UTC
Last Modified: March 12, 2022 09:30PM UTC
MOSCOW - Russia has threatened to target foreign aid convoys to Ukraine after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General said that targeting supply lines of allied nations would be 'a dangerous escalation of the war' but made a distinction between attacks within Ukraine and attacks located outside of the country.
Russia has threatened to target foreign military aid convoys to Ukraine. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that Moscow has already warned the United States that convoys of foreign weapons would be "legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces".
“We have warned the US that pumping up Ukraine with arms from several nations orchestrated by [Washington] is not just a dangerous move but something that makes these [arms] convoys legitimate targets” Ryabkov told Russia’s Channel One according to Russian state news RT. He did not say where and when Russia may be targeting the convoys however, or whether they would be targeted within Ukraine or outside of the country.
NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg stated that any Russian attack on the supply lines of allied nations supporting Ukraine would be "a dangerous escalation of the war".
"The allies are helping Ukraine uphold their right for self-defense, which is enshrined in the UN charter. Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is defending itself. If there is any attack against any NATO country, NATO territory, that will trigger Article 5", Stoltenberg said after a meeting with Trudeau, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš at the Adazi base.
Article 5 is a 'self-defense' clause in NATO's founding treaty that says that an attack on one member is an attack on all 30 member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
"I'm absolutely convinced President Putin knows this and we are removing any room for miscalculation, misunderstanding about our commitment to defend every inch of NATO territory" Stoltenberg said.
He did however say that there is a distinction between supply lines that are located inside of Ukraine, and those that are located outside of the Ukrainian borders.
"There is a war going on in Ukraine and, of course, supply lines inside Ukraine can be attacked. […] An attack on NATO territory, on NATO forces, NATO capabilities, that would be an attack on NATO".
In a NATO message to Russia, Stoltenberg stated, "they have to end the war, that we will continue to support Ukraine and that we continue to impose unprecedented sanctions".
