The West must be ready for a long conflict between Russia and Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in an interview given to the BBC on 1 January. He insisted that weapons shipments to Kyiv must go on and stressed that the Kremlin might be preparing a whole new offensive in the upcoming weeks. 

Stoltenberg said that Moscow’s partial mobilisation, which began in September, has revealed that Putin has no plans to end hostilities in the near future and that NATO needs to continue supporting Kyiv militarily. This would help to ensure that Ukraine maintains its sovereignty and force the Kremlin to the negotiating table.

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“[The Russians] are prepared to continue the war and also try to potentially launch a new offensive […] What Ukraine can achieve around that [negotiating] table is totally dependent on the strength on the battlefield,” he explained. 

In a separate interview given to Deutsche Press-Agentur (DPA), the NATO chief argued that a peace agreement could be reached under the condition that additional weapons shipments to Ukraine would become a reality. 

“It may sound like a paradox, but military support for Ukraine is the fastest way to peace […] We know that most wars end at the negotiating table […] but we know that what Ukraine can achieve in these negotiations depends inextricably on the military situation” – he said on 30 December. 

Stoltenberg’s main point in the last week was to repeat that it is in the West’s interests that Kyiv prevails and therefore topples the Russian dictator and war criminal Vladimir Putin. 

Image: Twitter (@jensstoltenberg)

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen