Jens Stoltenberg says that “Putin wanted less NATO on his borders, but he got more”

The general secretary of the NATOJens Stoltenberg, affirmed today that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin“has made a big strategic mistake” because one of his goals in invading Ukraine was to have less NATO on Russia’s borders and now he has more NATO.

“The last December Putin presented an ultimatum to the NATOdemanded a binding treaty… NATO withdrawal in Eastern Europe and stop enlargement. It wanted less NATO on its borders and now it is getting more NATO on its borders and more members. Finland and Sweden have announced that they are presenting their candidacy for entry and this is historic”, said Stoltenberg speaking at the Davos Forum.

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He also stressed that the Russian president “It has not achieved its strategic objectives in Ukraine. He wanted to enter kyiv and cut off the head of the Government… wanted a quick military operation and now Russia has a long and onerous war.”

The head of the Alliance said that “Putin’s war against Ukraine has shattered peace in Europeis a radical change for the world order” and that therefore, NATO has two fundamental tasks, “providing support to Ukraine and preventing the war from escalating”.

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“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 question about that possibility.

“We want to protect our allies, that it does not occur to them to attack one Baltic country or another”said.

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Stoltenberg noted that for many years allies have been helping Ukraineproviding 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 this assistance to help Ukraine in its self-defense, enshrined in the UN charter, by billions.”he added.

He said that since 2014 – annexation of Crimea and the war in donbas– the NATO it has been adapting, deploying combat groups in the eastern part of the Alliance, reinforcing the 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 the territory of the NATO”, 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.

Source: Elcomercio

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