The head of the coalition said on Tuesday that “significant” and unprecedented support of NATO in Ukraine continues.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, “Our relationship is a very close partnership – it is a relationship where NATO allies have proven their willingness to support Ukraine in unprecedented ways.”
Stoltenberg told reporters in Bucharest, Romania, “When the invasion happened, NATO was not surprised. In fact, we are preparing, we have been preparing to face such situations since the beginning of NATO’s major adaptation in 2014.” Ready for.”
Stoltenberg reiterated that the war began in 2014, referring to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea that year with Canadian troops, British troops and US troops from NATO helping to train the Ukrainian military.
“The war didn’t start in February of this year, the war started in the spring of 2014. And since then, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement, the biggest adaptation of our alliance since the end of the Cold War, including a greater presence is the eastern part of our alliance.
“So the reality was that when the invasion took place in February of this year – compared to 2014 – the Ukrainian troops and armed forces were much better trained, much larger, much better equipped, and much better led,” Stoltenberg said. “It’s one of the main reasons why they were able to fight back.”
Of course, the gains and victories that Ukrainians have achieved are related to the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers and the armed forces,” Stoltenberg said. “But it has been important that they have had support from partners in NATO, and we continue to do so.” Will keep.”
“The main focus now is on supporting Ukraine, ensuring that President Putin does not win, but that Ukraine remains a sovereign, independent nation in Europe.
“It’s a mix of partly greater presence in the east, we’ve already doubled the number of groups, but also working out how to rapidly scale those battle groups from battalions to brigade-sized levels ”
“So the combination of greater presence, determined troops, higher readiness, prepackaged equipment, all of this will strengthen our ability to respond and act.
“The purpose of all of this is to provide credible deterrence and defense, every day, 24/7. And by doing so, we are not provoking conflict, but we are keeping the peace, preventing conflict.”
Stoltenberg said the alliance is working on the agreement reached at the NATO summit in Madrid earlier this year.