NATO prepared for confronting Russia since 2014: Stoltenberg
New Delhi: NATO has been preparing to face off against Russia since 2014, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. “We actually prepared for this possibility for a long time,” he said at a news conference capping the second day of a NATO summit in Madrid.
“It’s not as if NATO suddenly woke up on the 24th of February and realized that Russia was dangerous. The reality is that we also have been preparing for this since 2014 because that’s the reason why we have increased our presence in the eastern part of the alliance, why NATO allies have started to invest more in defense,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg further said, “the West tried to talk with Russia before the special military operation, but Russia went ahead with its plans.”
The NATO summit on Wednesday approved a new strategic concept that calls Russia a threat, dropping the country’s description as a partner.
On February 24 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbas republics. The West retaliated against the Russian decision by imposing sweeping sanctions on the country. Also, Western countries started shipments of weapons and military equipment to Kyiv, which by now are worth billions of dollars.
(Vinayak)
