NATO’s secretary-general warned in an interview published Sunday in the German daily Bild that the war in Ukraine could last for years, urging Western countries to maintain their support for kyiv.
“We have to be prepared for this to last for years,” said Jens Stoltenberg. “We must not weaken our support for Ukraine, even if the costs are high, not only in terms of military support, but also due to rising energy and food prices,” he added. These costs are nothing compared to what Ukrainians pay every day on the front lines, said the leader of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The declarations of the Secretary General of NATO are added to the warning left the day before by the British Prime Minister. Returning from a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Boris Johnson also warned about the effect of “war fatigue” that could cause a progressive estrangement of people around the world from the conflict that has been going on for 116 days and without an end in sight.
“Ukrainians are suffering terribly in the east of their country,” said Boris Johnson, who accuses Putin of “continuing to commit terrible atrocities.” He leaves an appeal to show support for Ukraine “in the long term”, to combat such “fatigue”.
Ukraine “fatigue”? “It is important to continue paying attention not only to the war” but “to its multiple consequences”
On the other hand, Stoltenberg left a warning, if Russian President Vladimir Putin achieved his goals in Ukraine, as he did with the annexation of Crimea in 2014: “we would have to pay an even higher price”. In this context, he urged the alliance countries to continue delivering weapons to kyiv.
“With additional modern weapons, it would increase the probability that Ukraine will be able to expel Putin’s troops from Donbass,” he said. This region of eastern Ukraine is now partially under the control of Russian soldiers.
In the early hours of February 24, Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine, which was condemned by much of the international community, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia.
Source: Observadora
