The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, ruled out this Sunday that the Atlantic Alliance will send combat troops on the ground to Ukraine if Russia launches an offensive on the country.
“Ukraine is not a NATO ally,” Stoltenberg told the BBC, stressing that the “100% security guarantee that an attack on an ally will generate a response from the entire Alliance” does not apply to Kiev.
“We have no plans to deploy combat troops in Ukraine,” said Stoltenberg, who, when asked if he contemplates any scenario in which NATO soldiers could be seen fighting Russian forces in Ukraine, replied “no.”
“We are focusing on offering support to Ukraine. Helping it exercise its right to self-defense. At the same time, we are sending the message to Russia that we will impose severe sanctions if they once again use force against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
He affirmed that there is no “certainty about the intentions” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but warned of the worrying dispatch of tens of thousands of soldiers to the Ukrainian border, the use of “very aggressive rhetoric” by Moscow, as well as the precedents of the “use of force” against Ukraine.
Stoltenberg advocated a diplomatic solution to the tensions and urged the Kremlin to de-escalate the conflict.
“The paradox is that Putin entered Ukraine in 2014 because they did not like to have NATO close to their borders. But the more aggressive they are, the more NATO allies will move closer to the borders and increase their presence in the eastern part. of the Alliance,” said the Secretary General.