Stoltenberg: Russia should not Misjudge NATO's Readiness to Defend itself

NATO wants to “eliminate any possibility of misjudgments” in Moscow about its readiness to defend all members of the alliance, said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

“At today's meeting, we will look at not only the immediate consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine but also the longer-term consequences,” he told reporters on the way to an extraordinary meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

Defense ministers will discuss NATO's long-term adaptation to the “changed security environment” in order to strengthen the alliance's defense and deterrence capabilities, the Anatolian Agency quoted him as saying.

After Russia's first offensives in the war in Ukraine focused mainly on eastern and northern Ukraine, more recent attacks have affected western Ukraine, just miles from the NATO border with Poland.

NATO's goal is to “eliminate any possibility of misjudgment or misunderstanding in Moscow about our readiness to defend and defend all allies,” Stoltenberg added.

He stressed that NATO has more than 40,000 troops, backed by naval and air capabilities on the Alliance's eastern flank, as well as hundreds of thousands of soldiers on standby across NATO because NATO has “the responsibility to ensure that the conflict will not escalate outside Ukraine”.

“Our presence here is a signal to the world that we remain united in our support for Ukraine,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters on the way to the meeting.

He reiterated NATO's condemnation of “Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine”, stressing the alliance's support for Ukraine's “legitimate and sovereign government”.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov will join NATO defense ministers at the meeting, as well as representatives of partner countries Georgia, Finland, Sweden and the European Union.

/BGNES

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