BERLIN, Sept 14 (Askume) – NATO could have done more to arm Ukraine to deter a Russian invasion in 2022, the outgoing head of the Western military alliance said in an interview published on Saturday.
“Now we provide military materials for war, and then we can also provide military materials to prevent war,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the German weekly FAS.
Stoltenberg said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was reluctant to provide Kiev with the weapons it had requested ahead of a full-scale invasion of Russia because it feared it would escalate tensions with Russia.
Since the war began, Kiev, which is not a NATO member, has steadily received weapons systems from its allies after initial hesitation .
Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian prime minister, will resign in October from his NATO post, which he held since 2014. In June, former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte was announced as the organisation’s next head.
Stoltenberg said in the interview that the war in Ukraine can only be ended at the negotiating table.
“Ending this war requires some degree of renegotiation with Russia. But it must be based on Ukraine’s strengths,” he said.
Stoltenberg declined to confirm whether German diplomat Christoph Heusgen would replace him as president of the Munich Security Conference after he leaves NATO. He told FAS he had “several options” and would remain in Oslo.
