"Russian President Vladimir Putin made a "big mistake" by invading Ukraine, whose resistance he "underestimated", NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today an hour before the Alliance's extraordinary meeting in Brussels.
He also said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would address the Alliance leaders and they would consider offering support to help Ukraine exercise its right to self-defence. NATO will also discuss the importance of "restarting its defenses in its eastern flank," he added.
At the same time, Stoltenberg warned that any use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine could contaminate NATO territory. "Any use of chemical weapons would radically change the nature of the conflict - it would be a flagrant violation of international law and would have far-reaching consequences," he stressed.
"The seriousness of the use of chemical weapons, of course, becomes even more obvious knowing that there is always the risk of contamination (...) we can see the spread of chemical agents on NATO territory as well," he stressed, although he refrained from commenting on how the Alliance would respond to such an attack.
For the NATO Secretary General, Russia does not currently pose an acute threat to the Allies. "We are the strongest alliance in the world. As long as we are united, we are safe," he argued.
At the same time, he made it clear once again that NATO, despite its military superiority, rules out military intervention in the war in Ukraine.
"We do this because we have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict does not escalate beyond Ukraine."[/P]At the same time, he made it clear once again that NATO, despite its military superiority, rules out military intervention in the war in Ukraine. "We do this because we have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict does not escalate beyond Ukraine. That would "cause more suffering, more deaths, more destruction," he added.
Referring to Ukraine's persistent demand for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, the NATO Secretary General said that "this would be very dangerous.
"To impose a no-fly zone, we must massively attack Russian air defense systems in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and also be ready to shoot down Russian planes," he said. "And then the threat of a large-scale military conflict between NATO and Russia will be very high, and that will result in more deaths and more destruction."
According to Stoltenberg, today's meeting of heads of state and government this Thursday in Brussels will focus on supporting Ukraine, for example with arms supplies.
In addition, there should be discussions on how NATO can improve its deterrence against Russia in the long term. In the short term, new multinational battle groups are currently being created in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, for example. So far, NATO has only permanently stationed so-called battle groups in the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as in Poland.
Source.gr
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