Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has admitted that he regrets the Alliance's failure to provide Ukraine with much more weapons before the Russian invasion. He also admitted that after the invasion, Kyiv should have been given more advanced weapons and faster. He said this in an interview with the Financial Times, UNN reports.
"If there's one thing that I regret in a way and see much more clearly, it's that we should have given Ukraine much more military support much earlier. I think we all have to recognize that we should have given them more weapons before the invasion. And we should have given them more sophisticated weapons, rather, after the invasion. I take my part of the responsibility," Stoltenberg said.
He noted that sending lethal weapons was a big discussion.
"Most of the allies were against it before the invasion...they were very afraid of the consequences. I am proud of what we did, but it would have been a great advantage if it had started earlier. It might have even prevented the invasion, or at least made it much more difficult (for Russia - ed.) to do what they did," Stoltenberg said.
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On his last day as NATO Secretary General, Stoltenberg saidthat Putin's nuclear rhetoric should not deter NATO from helping Ukraine.
In July, Stoltenberg, while still NATO Secretary General, stated that NATO would not shoot down Russian missiles with its air defense system, as the Alliance would not participate in the conflict.