We want to avoid a war with Russia but it is difficult to say until when the conflict in Ukraine will last before we see signs of Russia's withdrawal and readiness for a compromise, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Sunday.

“War must be avoided, we are all working on that. We must not allow an escalation,” Grlic Radman told reporters at a security conference in Munich.

“Until we see signs of Russia’s withdrawal, of its readiness for dialogue and a compromise, it is difficult to say how long this will last. We must work on bringing the conflict to an end, so Putin finally realises aggression is not the path to peace,” said the minister.

Grlic Radman believes NATO and the EU should strengthen their defence capacity and be ready for any type of crisis.

“Now everything is at stake because of Russia which did not have any reason to launch aggression against a sovereign country,” said Grlic Radman, adding that the West should build partnership with China, which continues to have good relations with Moscow two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“If the adversary is an economic one, it should not cause new divisions. We need as many allies as possible in the fight against the Russian aggression,” said Grlic Radman.