From left, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Joe Biden, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and France's President Emmanuel Macron pose for a G7 leaders' group photo during a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)World leaders gathering in Belgium Thursday for a special NATO summit regarding the war in Ukraine have released a joint statement urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to "immediately stop this war and withdraw military forces from Ukraine, and call on Belarus to end its complicity."
"We urge Russia to allow rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access and safe passage for civilians, and to allow for humanitarian aid to be delivered to Mariupol and other besieged cities," the statement continued.
"Russia needs to show it is serious about negotiations by immediately implementing a ceasefire. We call on Russia to engage constructively in credible negotiations with Ukraine to achieve concrete results, starting with a sustainable ceasefire and moving towards a complete withdrawal of its troops from Ukrainian territory," the statement also said. "Russia’s continuing aggression while discussions are taking place is deplorable."
NATO also said it would "continue to provide assistance [to Ukraine] in such areas as cybersecurity and protection against threats of a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear nature."
The alliance also called out China for its relations with Russia during the alliance.
"We call on all states, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to uphold the international order including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, as enshrined in the UN Charter, to abstain from supporting Russia’s war effort in any way, and to refrain from any action that helps Russia circumvent sanctions," it said. "We are concerned by recent public comments by PRC officials and call on China to cease amplifying the Kremlin’s false narratives, in particular on the war and on NATO, and to promote a peaceful resolution to the conflict."
Posted by Greg Norman
https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/ukraine-russia-live-updates-03-24-2022
