U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Friday that NATO was “ready” for a military conflict with Russia, the New York Post reported.
Blinken made the pronouncement after the US Embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter: “It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin’s shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further.”
The Russian military hit the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Thursday night.
The tweet included “#TheHague,” a hashtag referring to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“Ours is a defensive alliance. We seek no conflict. But if conflict comes to us, we are ready for it, and we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” ” Blinken said.
After his statement, the Secretary of State attended a Brussels meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg had made similar comments, warning that while NATO is a defensive organization, it won’t hesitate to defend allied states.
He said that NATO was giving support to Ukraine but added that “NATO is not party to the conflict.”
“NATO is a defensive alliance. We don’t seek war, conflict with Russia. At the same time, we need to make sure that there is no misunderstanding about our commitment to defend and protect our Allies,” he said.
Soltenberg also denounced Russia’s attack on the nuclear power plant.
The assault “demonstrates the recklessness of this war and the importance of ending it and the importance of Russia withdrawing all its troops and [participating] in good faith in diplomatic efforts,” he said.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)