NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that «it would be dangerous to underestimate Russia» in the context of the war in Ukraine and said that «there is nothing to indicate that Moscow has changed its ambitions» since the start of the invasion in February 2022.
Stoltenberg said during a conference in Norway’s capital, Oslo, that NATO «made a significant effort at the political and diplomatic level to avoid war» and regretted that Russian President Vladimir Putin «decided to go on the offensive.»
«When he did, we were ready,» he said, before stressing that the bloc had «precise and concrete intelligence information on the reinforcement of Russian troops on the border and on their concrete plans,» as reported by the Norwegian daily ‘VG’.
Thus, he has defended that at this moment «weapons are the way to peace» and has argued that «if you want a peaceful negotiated solution, you have to support Ukraine». «If Putin wins in Ukraine, it will be a tragedy for the Ukrainians, but it would also be dangerous for us,» he explained.
Therefore, he stressed that NATO should draw three lessons from the war, including that NATO countries should invest more in defense and avoid being dependent on «authoritarian regimes like Russia and China.»
«Authoritarian countries stick together, so it’s even more important for democratic countries to stick together,» he said. «Not because we are always right or because we never make mistakes, but because of common values,» he reiterated.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
