NATO admits its responsibility so that the war does not spread beyond Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged on Wednesday that the Alliance has a “responsibility” to ensure that the war does not spread beyond Ukraine and admitted that the conflict will have “lasting” consequences for the security of allies.

“NATO has a responsibility to ensure that this crisis does not escalate beyond Ukraine and that is also why we have increased the (military) presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.”, declared Stoltenberg together with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, before the meeting of NATO Defense Ministers that is being held today in Brussels.

The Norwegian politician pointed out that war is “devastating for the Ukrainian population and will also change our security environment.”

“It will have lasting consequences for our security for all NATO allies,” he stressed.

However, he stressed that the Alliance has responded “in a united and rapid manner” and pointed out that the members of the transatlantic organization have imposed “severe sanctions” on Russiaprovide “significant support to Ukraine, military, financial and humanitarian” and strengthen its collective defense.

“Hundreds of thousands of military personnel on high alert, hundreds of thousands of US military personnel in Europe, and 40,000 soldiers under direct NATO command, mostly on the Alliance’s eastern flank, backed by naval and air forces,” he stated, adding that there is “no stronger message of transatlantic unity than having North American forces serving in Europe.”

He recalled that at today’s meeting “They will not only address the immediate consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but also the longer-term consequences, the long-term adaptation of our Alliance, how to further strengthen our defense and deterrence and eliminate any room for miscalculation or misunderstanding. in Moscow about our readiness to protect and defend all allies.”

Indeed, the ministers hope to agree to assess the deployment of more pre-positioned forces and equipment in the east of the Alliance. The heads of Finland, Sweden, Georgia and Ukraine also participate in the event, the latter by videoconference.

For his part, the US Secretary of Defense pointed out that “very quick” decisions have been made in the face of the crisis and assured that Washington’s presence at the meeting in Brussels “sends a signal to the world that we remain united in our support for Ukraine.” ”.

“Ukraine has a legitimate and sovereign government and we support their ability to defend themselves and we will continue to support them,” he asserted, and reiterated the United States’ commitment to article 5 of the NATOaccording to which an attack against one member of the Alliance is equivalent to an attack against all of them.

After the leader of the ruling Polish Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczinsky, called for the creation of an “international peace force”, possibly of the NATOFor Ukraine, the Canadian Minister of Defense, Anita Anand, said upon her arrival that these are “the type of issues” that they will analyze today, and assured that she is in favor of a “peaceful and negotiated” solution to the crisis, but that it will have to talk to allies.

The Dutch minister, Kajsa Ollongren, considered it “very important” to continue providing weapons to Ukraine because kyiv asks for them and because the former Soviet republic “has the right to defend itself.”

About the peacekeeping mission NATO proposed by Poland, was of the opinion that there must first be a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that London continues to supply arms to Ukraine and that they come to the front, while regarding the Polish proposal for a peace mission, he said that he first wants to see the details of the initiative.

His Estonian counterpart, Kalle Laanet, expressed his support for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, an option that the NATO has ruled out In addition, she said that China “must decide where it wants to be, whether it is in the east or in the west.”

Regarding the peacekeeping mission, he affirmed that it is “one of the possibilities” and that “all possibilities should be looked at,” but he added that it should be approved by the UN Security Council.

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