“Sincerely, I believe that we should not be concerned about this specific threat,” stated Paulo Rangel during a NATO ministerial meeting at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs considered the threat made on Tuesday by the President of the Russian Federation as part of a “pressure rhetoric” on the European Union due to its support for Ukraine in recent years.
“Now, we must be concerned with the Russian threat; therefore, peace in Ukraine should not be achieved at any cost. It must be a just and lasting peace, and obviously, as it concerns the EU and NATO countries, these countries should be involved in the negotiation process when the time is appropriate,” he commented.
On Tuesday, the Russian President warned that Moscow is prepared for war with Europe if that is the Europeans’ intention, although he does not desire it.
“We do not intend to wage war on Europe, but if Europe desires and starts it, we are ready immediately,” Putin declared to journalists, according to AFP.
Putin, who issued the warning shortly before receiving the United States envoy to negotiate the peace process with Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, accused Europeans of wanting to hinder Washington’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“They do not have a peace plan; they are on the side of war,” said the Russian head of state.
The US presented a 28-point initial proposal ten days ago, which the EU and Ukraine considered favored Moscow and did not incorporate EU or Ukrainian inputs.
The plan, aimed at ending the conflict triggered by the Russian offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, was substantially revised after meetings in Washington with Ukrainians.
The proposal was reworked bilaterally on Sunday in Florida between delegations headed by the US Chief of Diplomacy, Marco Rubio, and Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov.
Putin denounced that European countries, referring mainly to France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, included inadmissible demands for Moscow in the plan with the sole objective of “blocking the entire peace process.”
