“Putin wanted to go into kyiv and cut off the government’s head…he wanted a quick military operation and now Russia has a long and expensive war.”
The head of the Alliance said that “Putin’s war against Ukraine has destroyed peace in Europe, it is a radical change for the world order” and that therefore NATO has two fundamental tasks, “providing support to Ukraine and preventing the war escalates.
“We must make sure that this terrible war does not escalate into a full-fledged war between Russia and Europe. That is why we want to support Ukraine but we are not going to send troops on the ground, we are not going to get directly involved,” he said in response to a ask about that possibility.
“We want to protect our allies, that it does not occur to him to attack one Baltic country or another,” he said.
Stoltenberg noted that allies have been helping Ukraine for many years, providing equipment and training to tens of thousands of soldiers, “and now we see the difference this makes every day on the battlefield.”
“Since the invasion we have increased by billions this assistance to help Ukraine in its self-defense, enshrined in the UN charter,” he added.
He said that since 2014 (annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas) NATO has been adapting, deploying combat groups in the eastern part of the Alliance, strengthening defense including space and cyberspace.
“We have deployed additional forces, we have more than 40,000 soldiers on the eastern flank…with air and naval support. We have more than 100,000 soldiers on high alert ready to repel any aggression and defend NATO territory,” he explained.
Stoltenberg stressed that “the increasingly close coordination between the EU and NATO has been essential to confront this crisis” and that even countries such as Switzerland and South Korea have joined the sanctions against Russia.
“These massive sanctions remind us of one of the most important lessons of this conflict, the war in Ukraine has shown Europe’s dependence on energy imports from Russia and this creates vulnerability,” he said.