Scholz's vow: We'll protect every square inch of NATO territory

He said Moscow must have it clear that the military alliance will be ready to defend itself, if necessary.

Speaking at the German Economic Forum, attended by Lithuania's chief minister Ingrida Simonyte, Scholz said Germany has played a leading role in NATO's presence in the Baltic countries on the border with Russia now for a decade.

Because the threat from Russia will continue, we and other allies decided last year to move additional units to the Baltics, as well as to permanently deploy an entire brigade in the future”Scholz said.

But this change in security policy is necessary to show Russia: We are ready to protect every square inch of NATO's territory against attacks”,He added.

He stressed that diplomacy will be successful only by the position of force.

Earlier this week, Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, warned NATO member states not to allow Ukraine to carry out attacks with their weapons within Russia, as several allied Western countries decide to remove restrictions on Kiev for using the weapons they supply.

Chief NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, rejected Putin's warnings Friday, saying the alliance has heard many times such warnings in the past and that self-defense does not mean escalation. / REL