NATO countries divided over maintaining relations with Russia amid Ukraine war: Report

As the war in Eastern Europe continues to escalate, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries are divided into two camps on the issue of relations with Russia. While Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia push for a complete split with Russia, Germany, France, and Turkey intend to keep in touch with Russian officials regardless of the situation in Ukraine and the alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops, The New York Times reported quoting Western officials.

The NATO foreign ministers' meeting this week, to discuss ways to assist Ukraine in prosecuting Russia, agreed on one main point - the war is far from over - and despite their withdrawal from areas around Kyiv, Russian troops are making gradual progress in Ukraine's east, the report added. 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Moscow has no intention of abandoning its ambitions in Ukraine. He also stated that there is currently a large movement of Russian troops away from Kyiv to reorganise, rearm, and resupply and they are shifting their focus to the eastern region. "We expect a renewed Russian drive in eastern and southern Ukraine in the coming weeks, with the goal of capturing the entire Donbass and establishing a land bridge to occupied Crimea. This is a crucial phase of the conflict," the NATO chief added. 

Two-thirds of NATO members provided lethal weapons to Ukraine: Report

As per The New York Times report, NATO is committed to providing all kinds of help to Ukraine and around two-thirds of the alliance's members have already provided lethal weaponry, including the Czech Republic's supply of Soviet-era tanks and armoured personnel carriers. 

The Czech Republic became the first NATO member to send tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) to Ukraine. According to reports, this was the first such shipment of heavy weapons to the besieged ex-Soviet country since the Russian invasion began on February 24. 

EU nations divided over coal embargo on Russia

Meanwhile, European Union diplomats failed to approve a new sanctions package against Russia which was proposed by the European Commission on Wednesday, April 6. Reportedly, the sanctions package could not get approval owing to disagreements over the coal embargo. However, the bloc has withdrawn Russia's "most-favoured-nation" trade status, which allows EU countries to impose punitive levies on Russian trade and commerce. 

(Image: AP)