NATO vows to help Ukraine “as long as it needs”

At a media conference prior to the NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers' meeting, which will be held next week in Romania, Stoltenberg called on member states to continue assisting Ukraine with weapons and air defence systems. NATO, as an organisation, does not send weapons.

“NATO will continue to stay close to Ukraine as long as it needs. We will not withdraw”, Norway's former prime minister said.

And I expect that the foreign affairs ministers will agree to increase non-lethal support”.

Stoltenberg said members of the 30-nation security organisation have helped Ukraine with fuel, generators, medical supplies, winter equipment and equipment for blocking fears -- especially now that Russia has attacked the energy infrastructure in Ukraine.

At our meeting in Bucharest, I will apply for even more”, he said. “in the longer term, we will help Ukraine switch from Soviet-era equipment to NATO standards, doctrines and modern training”.

Stoltenberg said Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, would join the group of ministers to discuss his country's most urgent needs, but also discuss what long-term NATO support can offer.

Chief NATO said this support would help Ukraine towards membership in this alliance in the future.

The meeting in Bucharest, which will take place on November 29th and 30th, is held nearly 15 years after NATO had promised Ukraine and Georgia that one day they could become members of this organisation -- a promise that had angered Russia deeply.

The ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina's, Georgia and Moldova's foreign affairs -- three partner countries that NATO says are under pressure added from Russia -- will also be participating.

Stoltenberg said the meeting will show that NATO is taking further steps to help them protect their independence and reinforce their ability to defend themselves”.

Since Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, had ordered the invasion of Ukraine ten months ago, NATO has reinforced the protection of allies who are neighbours with Ukraine and Russia. However, they have done so carefully so as not to get involved in a broader war with nuclear power like Russia.

But Stoltenberg did not pressure Ukraine to start peace negotiations with Russia. European and NATO diplomats have said Putin does not seem willing to sit on the table for such talks.

The majority of wars end with negotiations”, he said. But what happens at the negotiating table depends on what happens on the battlefield. So the best way to increase the possibilities for peaceful solutions is to support Ukraine”. / REL/