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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg defended on Monday that the Alliance countries must be prepared to support Ukraine “for a long time” because Russia’s ability to maintain the war cannot be underestimated.
“We must be prepared to support Ukraine for a long time”despite the fact that Russia is retreating on the ground and that the Ukrainians are liberating the occupied territories, Stoltenberg said in Madrid, at the 68th annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the defense alliance between European and Northern countries). American people).
Stoltenberg said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, when he militarily attacked Ukraine last February, underestimated the defense and resistance capacity of Ukrainians, as well as the unity of the international community around kyiv, but now it would be “a big mistake to underestimate Russia”that it maintains an “important military capacity and a high number of troops” to continue the war.
After nine months of war and without being able to defeat Ukraine in “a few days”, as was the initial objective, Moscow is currently causing a significant number of victims on the ground and the inflicting “heinous suffering on the Ukrainian people”with missiles fired at cities, homes and vital energy infrastructure, Stoltenberg stressed, calling on members of the Atlantic Alliance to remain united around Ukraine and strengthen support for kyiv.
“I know this support comes at a price and in our countries many people are facing a visa cost crisis and these are difficult times for many people. But the prices that we, the NATO allies, pay are measured in money, while the Ukrainians pay a price that is measured in blood,” he said.
Soltenberg added that the price to pay in the event of a Russian victory would be “higher”, with “authoritarian regimes around the world” knowing “that they can get what they want with brutal force” and make the planet “more dangerous.” “. and the “most vulnerable” NATO countries.
Source: Observadora
