2024-02-11 15:08:08
The Alliance must prepare for the possibility of a multi-year confrontation with Russia that could last decades.
As Day.Az reports with reference to TASS, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated this to the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
“NATO does not seek war with Russia,” Stoltenberg said. “However, we must prepare for a confrontation that could last decades,” he stressed. For this reason, the NATO Secretary General called for an increase and acceleration of orders for European defense companies. In a market economy, he believes, arms manufacturers need signed contracts so they can increase production.
At the same time, Stoltenberg argued that if Russia emerges victorious from the conflict in Ukraine, “there are no guarantees that Russian aggression will not spread to other countries.” The best defense now is support for Ukraine and investment in NATO’s military potential, the alliance’s secretary general concluded.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in an article for the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, said that the United States and the European Union will resist any attempts to drag the North Atlantic Alliance into the conflict in Ukraine. At the same time, he also pointed out that the alliance countries should ensure “the effectiveness of collective defense and security.” Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Peter Szijjártó said on February 7 that the most important task now facing Europe is to prevent a military conflict between NATO and Russia over Ukraine. He said that if this could not be done, it “would mean the beginning of the third world war.” Her threat “has never been as serious as it is now,” he emphasized.