NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Thursday that a Russian chemical attack in Ukraine “would enormously change the nature” of the war being waged there and could also affect neighboring allied countries, without wanting to go into whether this would motivate an Alliance defense reaction.
“I am not going to speculate beyond the fact that NATO is always ready to defend, protect and react to any type of attack against an allied country,” Stoltenberg told reporters upon arrival at the extraordinary summit of NATO leaders. to address the crisis in Ukraine.
“I am not going to speculate beyond saying the following: any use of chemical weapons would vastly change the nature of the conflict, would be a flagrant violation of international law, and would have widespread and severe consequences.”
Support to Ukraine
The Norwegian politician added that “the seriousness of the use of chemical weapons is of course even more obvious knowing that there is a risk of contamination when these chemicals spread to larger areas , and even reach NATO territory.”
At this summit, the allies hope to discuss more support for Ukraine , including the provision of protective equipment against possible chemical, biological or even nuclear threats.
The Alliance is concerned about the possibility of the use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine after what it considers “false claims” by Moscow that Kiev was producing chemical weapons, which may be a way of creating “a pretext” for Russia to use such weapons. type of weaponry.
Furthermore, as part of their immediate response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO leaders plan to give their go-ahead to the declaration of four new multinational battalions to be located in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria and to join those already found since 2017 in Poland and the Baltic countries.
Invest more in defense
In the longer term, the Alliance is also preparing to review its deterrence and defense capabilities.
Stoltenberg also assured that “it is necessary to do more and that, therefore, it is necessary to invest more”. Stoltenberg also assured that “it is necessary to do more and that, therefore, it is necessary to invest more”.
Asked about the mental health of Russian President Vladimir Putin , Stoltenberg replied that the president has made “a big mistake, which is launching a war against an independent and sovereign nation.”
“It has underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian population , the bravery of the Ukrainian population and armed forces, and therefore they are also encountering much more resistance than they expected,” he said.
Despite the support that NATO allies provide to Ukraine, the secretary general reiterated that the transatlantic organization will not send troops or planes to the former Soviet republic because it has “the responsibility” that the conflict “does not escalate beyond Ukraine” .
“That would cause even more suffering, death and destruction,” he stressed , detailing that imposing the no-fly zone over Ukraine that Kiev is asking for would mean “massively attacking Russian air defense systems in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and also be prepared to shoot down Russian planes.
China’s position
On China , an ally of Russia that maintains an ambiguous position regarding the war, Stoltenberg urged Beijing to “join the rest of the world in clearly condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and not providing political support and, of course, not any kind material support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
Stoltenberg’s term as general secretary was due to end in September, but the war in Ukraine has sparked debate over whether he could stay in the job longer. The politician said this Thursday that he will leave the decision on whether he extends his mandate to the thirty allies.