NATO Secretary General Jens states that the allies of the alliance are united in the fact that the alliance forces will not be deployed on the ground or in the skies of Ukraine. It is the responsibility of the alliance to ensure that this war does not extend beyond Ukraine.
That's what he said when asked by reporters at a press conference Wednesday in Brussels, or during an extraordinary meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the defense minister level, allies raised the issue of ensuring a no-fly zone in Ukrainian skies.
"Allies are united both in providing support for Ukraine and its right to defend itself and united in saying that NATO should not deploy its forces on the ground or airspace of Ukraine because we have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict, this war does not escalate beyond Ukraine," Stoltenberg said, continuing, "We see death, destruction, human suffering in Ukraine, but it will be worse if NATO takes actions that turn this into a full-scale war between NATO and Russia."
Stoltenberg reiterated that the position of the allies not to send NATO troops to Ukraine is one.
He gave a similar response when asked about Poland's proposal to send troops to NATO as part of a peacekeeping mission. "We support peace efforts, we call on Putin to withdraw troops, but we have no plans to deploy NATO forces on Ukrainian territory," Stoltenberg repeated.
At the same time, the secretary general stated that "peace is needed in Ukraine." "Therefore, Russia and President Putin must stop the war and withdraw their troops. We support all efforts to find a solution, all efforts to find a diplomatic solution. We support and welcome the negotiations now going on between Ukraine and Russia. At the same time, we support Ukraine," he continued.
Stoltenberg also believes that the outcome of the talks between Ukraine and Russia is "closely linked to the situation on the battlefield."
"I'm convinced that one of the reasons - and the Ukrainians say they see some steps in the right direction - is because they were able to fend off the blow, that they were able to fight the Russian intervention forces. The support of the alliance for the Ukrainian armed forces is also very important in terms of what they can achieve at the negotiating table with Russia," the NATO secretary general said.
