Stoltenberg: Putin made a big mistake by invading Ukraine

LAST UPDATE: 11:23

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” with his invasion of Ukraine, the resistance of which he “underestimated”, said today NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shortly before the extraordinary meeting of the Alliance in Brussels.

“(Ukrainian) President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the leaders of the Alliance and they will consider the support they will offer to help Ukraine exercise its right to self-defense,” Stoltenberg explained.

NATO will also discuss the importance of “restarting its defenses on its eastern flank,” he said. Four regular formations will be formed in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia, while the four already formed in Poland and the three Baltic states will be strengthened.

At the same time, Stoltenberg warned that any use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine could contaminate NATO territory.

“Any use of chemical weapons would radically change the nature of the conflict – it would be a clear violation of international law and would have far-reaching implications,” he said.

“The seriousness of the use of chemical weapons, of course, becomes even more apparent knowing that there is always a risk of contamination (…) we can see the spread of chemical agents on NATO soil,” Stoltenberg added, without commenting on how the Alliance would was responding to such an attack.

Today’s NATO summit will be followed by the G7 summit at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance with the participation of the Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, who traveled specifically for the summit in Brussels.

Afterwards, US President Joe Biden will attend the European Union summit.

Russia’s war on Ukraine will be the subject of all three summits, aimed at coordinating sanctions against the Kremlin to end hostilities and pressure on certain countries, notably India and China, to to help Russia circumvent Western sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address a teleconference at all three summits.

“We expect significant measures from NATO, the European Union and the G7,” the Ukrainian president said yesterday.

The West will discuss what they can do to boost Ukraine’s military, economic and humanitarian support and what they refuse to do.

“There will be no NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, no aircraft in the sky,” Jens Stoltenberg said. An airspace should be respected and this requires an attack on the air defenses and the downing of Russian aircraft. “This would provoke a war between NATO and Russia,” he said.

SOURCE: AMPE