Wed 16 March 2022:
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, nearly three weeks into Russia’s assault on Ukraine, that the alliance wants to “remove any room for miscalculation” in Moscow about its willingness to defend all members of the alliance.
“At the meeting today, we will also not only address the immediate consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but we will also address the more long-term consequences,” Stoltenberg told reporters on the way to an extraordinary meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. Turkiye will be represented by National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.
The defense ministers will talk about NATO’s long-term adaptation to the “changed security environment” to strengthen the alliance’s defense and deterrence capabilities, he said.
After Russia’s early offensives in the Ukraine war largely focused on eastern and northern Ukraine, more recent attacks have hit western Ukraine, just kilometers from the border with NATO member Poland.
NATO aims to “remove any room for miscalculation or misunderstanding in Moscow about our willingness to protect and defend all allies,” Stoltenberg added.
He underlined that NATO has over 40,000 troops supported by naval and air capacities on the eastern flank of the alliance, as well as hundreds of thousands of soldiers in high alerts across NATO territory because NATO has “the responsibility to ensure that the conflict do not escalate beyond Ukraine.”
“Our presence here sends a signal to the world that we remain united in our support of Ukraine,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters on the way to the meeting.
He repeated NATO’s condemnation of “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion” of Ukraine, underlining NATO’s support for Ukraine’s “legitimate and sovereign government.”
Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine’s defense minister, will attend the meeting with NATO defense ministers, as well as representatives from Georgia, Finland, Sweden, and the European Union.
The war between Russia and Ukraine, which began on February 24, has sparked worldwide censure, financial sanctions against Moscow, and an exodus of global companies from Russia.
According to the United Nations, at least 691 people have been killed and 1,143 injured in Ukraine since the conflict began. However, it has warned that the true toll is likely to be much higher because it has not been able to gain access to places where hostilities have risen.
According to the UN refugee agency, over 3 million people have fled to neighboring countries.
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