“Ukraine can win this war,” said Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) against Russia. The statement was made by the diplomat today at the Western military alliance meeting in Berlin, Germany.
Stoltenberg, who attended the meeting virtually, said in his speech from Brussels, Belgium, “Russia’s war in Ukraine is not going as Moscow planned. It failed to take Kiev.”
“The Ukrainians are valiantly defending their homeland. To assist them, the Allies have committed and delivered billions of dollars worth of security aid to Ukraine,” said the NATO Secretary General.
Stoltenberg also talked about Finland’s announcement that it will apply to join NATO, noting that the bloc is “open” to both him and Sweden’s participation. The diplomat described the Finnish government’s decision as “historic”.
The announcement was made hours ago by Finland at a press conference with President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin, following the war between Russia and Ukraine. Last Thursday (12), the country had already announced its plans to join the bloc “without delay”.
After the announcement of his application for NATO membership, the Finnish prime minister said he “cannot count on” a peaceful future in the next Russia. According to Marin, the measure is necessary for the country to guarantee security after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“When we look at Russia, we see a very different kind of Russia than we saw a few months ago,” said the prime minister.
US to reopen embassy in Kiev ‘very soon’
Also at the NATO meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US embassy in Kiev would reopen “very soon”.
Blinken also said there was “almost general” support from current NATO members for Finland and Sweden to join the organisation.
“The US government will strongly support Sweden or Finland’s application for NATO membership if they decide to apply officially,” he said.
He added that he had spoken to Turkey’s foreign minister regarding the issue, adding that the country had requested guarantees and export controls from the Nordic countries against terrorism. “I’m sure we’ll reach a consensus,” he said.
Last Friday (13), Turkish president reception tayyip Erdogan He said he did not see “positively” the possibility of Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
The President of Finland commented on this statement of the leader of Turkey today. “To be honest, I was a little confused because I had a phone call with President Erdogan about a month ago. And actually, he took over before I had the opportunity to do so,” he said.
*with information from AFP
source: Noticias
