Nato chief warns of sanctions on Brazil, China and India over Russia ties
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Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte speaking to a reporter as he arrived to hold a press conference with US senators in Washington, on July 15.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON - Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned on July 15 that countries such as Brazil, China and India could be hit very hard by secondary sanctions if they continue to do business with Russia.
He made the comment while meeting senators in the US Congress the day after President Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine
“My encouragement to these three countries, particularly is, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard,” Mr Rutte, who met Mr Trump on July 14 and agreed on the new steps, told reporters.
“So please, make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise, this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way,” Mr Rutte added.
Republican US Senator Thom Tillis praised Mr Trump for announcing the steps, but said the 50-day delay “worries” him.
He said he was concerned that “Putin would try to use the 50 days to win the war, or to be better positioned to negotiate a peace agreement after having murdered and potentially collected more ground as a basis for negotiation”.
“So we should look at the current state of Ukraine today and say, no matter what you do over the next 50 days, any of your gains are off the table,” Mr Tillis added.
Mr Rutte said Europe would find the money to ensure Ukraine was in the best possible position in peace talks.
He said that under the agreement with Mr Trump, the US would now “massively” supply Ukraine with weapons – “not just air defence, also missiles, also ammunition paid for by the Europeans”.
Asked if long-range missiles for Ukraine were under discussion, Mr Rutte said: “It is both defensive and offensive. So there’s all kinds of weapons, but we have not discussed in detail yesterday with the President. This is really being worked through now by the Pentagon, by the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, together with the Ukrainians.” REUTERS
