Stoltenberg: Russia will not be able to achieve its goals in Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg says Russia will not achieve its goals in Ukraine
Despite great military efforts, Russia will not be able to achieve its goals in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is convinced, UNN reports with reference to DW.
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The purpose of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he told dpa, was Russian President Vladimir Putin's desire to hinder Ukraine's movement towards NATO and the EU. However, as Stoltenberg noted, after two years of war , Ukraine is closer to NATO and the EU than ever.
"Putin has lost Ukraine forever," Stoltenberg said, adding that this is a major strategic defeat for Russia.
The Secretary General expressed confidence that Ukraine will eventually achieve its goal of joining NATO.
Stoltenberg also pointed to the huge price that Russia has to pay for the war against Ukraine. According to him, Russia has already lost hundreds of planes, thousands of tanks and 300,000 soldiers, and the war has caused inflation and lower living standards, and Russia is now more politically isolated than before.
At the same time, Stoltenberg warned against counting on a quick end to the war given the developments. In particular, he pointed out that there are no signs of a change in Putin's course after his likely re-election in March. "We have no indication that Putin will change his goals and his policies. He will continue to try to occupy more territory," Stoltenberg said.
At the same time, he refrained from commenting on Ukraine's plans for additional mobilization, noting that no one understands the need for soldiers better than Ukrainians themselves.
"Ukrainians have shown that they are able to defend themselves, to fight back, especially when they receive weapons from Germany and many other NATO countries," the Secretary General said and called for a strong continued support for Ukraine.
In particular, he called on the allies to explore the possibility of providing Ukraine with more defense equipment by amending existing agreements with third countries. "In general, we need to increase our production to better help Ukraine and better defend ourselves," the NATO Secretary General said.
According to dpa, the EU's plans to supply Ukraine with one million artillery shells by spring 2024 will not be fulfilled. One of the reasons for this is that at least 40 percent of production is exported to third countries. According to Stoltenberg, the question is whether it is really necessary to export so much.
