NATO must show Putin that he will not defeat Ukraine on battlefield - Stoltenberg

There are no signs that Putin wants to end the war against Ukraine, on the contrary, Russian forces are stepping up.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this before a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in defense ministers' format in Brussels on Tuesday.

"This war can end tomorrow if the government, the country that started the war, President Putin stops to attack Ukraine. The challenge is that we see no signs that President Putin, Russia is planning to end this war. On the opposite, we're seeing that they're stepping up," Stoltenberg said, commenting on Putin's statements about peace talks.

He added that "it's for the Ukrainians to decide what are acceptable conditions for an agreement."

"What we know as NATO Allies is that what happens around the negotiating table is closely linked to the strength on the battlefield. So, if we want a negotiated solution where Russia accepts that Ukraine has to prevail as a sovereign independent nation in Europe, then the only way to get there is to give military support to Ukraine so they can demonstrate to President Putin that he will not win on the battlefield. He will not get control over Ukraine by using military force, but has to sit down and accept the sovereign independent Ukraine also in the future," Stoltenberg said.

Photo: nato.int