ISLAMABAD: The way to solve the ongoing crisis in Ukraine is not by crossing others’ red lines, but to respect and abide by the commitments that have been made, an expert told Xinhua in an interview.
For Russia, the red line is the eastwards expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), said Najma Minhas, an international affairs expert and editor of Global Village Space.
“When you saw increasing movement eastward, the red line started going very, very red.”
Noting the United States has been pushing NATO members to increase their military spending, Minhas said some European countries which were previously not spending much on military buildup have now increased their defense budgets.
This is not limited to the military buildup, said Minhas, adding some Western countries are also encouraging their civilians to carry arms and fight in Ukraine.
Regarding the sanctions that the United States has imposed on Russia, she said that it has banned oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal imports from Russia, commodities in which the United States is more or less self-sufficient, but the country has reportedly not banned uranium imports from Russia on which the United States is largely dependent.
“On the other hand, the United States expects that European countries, which are approximately 40 percent dependent on Russia for their natural gas, should stop importing it automatically. It’s a huge irony for the Europeans to look at,” she said.
Moreover, Minhas said the actions the West has been taking against Russia are pushing the world towards another Cold War, which is not good for the world.
“The world had actually moved on and beyond (from Cold War),” she said. “Countries have spent more on people’s health, and their education instead of military spending.”
