NATO Secretary General says in an interview that peace will only be achieved when Putin stops attacking Ukraine. Jens Stoltenberg also insisted that member countries of the alliance increase their defense spending
(DW) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday (17/09) that the alliance must prepare for a long war in Ukraine and insisted that member countries need to increase their defense spending.
“Most wars last longer than you think when they start. That’s why we must prepare for a long war in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said in statements to German media group Funke.
Stoltenberg said that while a quick peace was desirable, it should be remembered that “if the Ukrainians stopped fighting, Ukraine would cease to exist”.
Peace process
Peace, according to Stoltenberg, will only be achieved when Russian President Vladimir Putin stops attacking Ukraine.
After an eventual peace, in Stoltenberg’s assessment, Ukraine will need security guarantees and “there is no doubt” that the country will be part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Defense spending
On the other hand, Stoltenberg insisted on the need for NATO members to increase military spending and meet the target of devoting at least 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense.
Germany is one of the countries that has not yet reached this target, but the NATO Secretary General stressed that the nation is “on the right track”.
“In Cold War times, when Willy Brandt or Konrad Adenauer ruled, defense spending was around 4% of GDP. For NATO, it’s important that the most populous European member country meets the target, 2% of a big cake is more than 2% of a small cake,” he added.
Stoltenberg said that, having been prime minister of Norway, he knows how difficult it is to increase defense spending when large expenditures also have to be made on health or infrastructure, but stressed that this is necessary when tensions rise.
This week, Stoltenberg also said in an interview with Italian broadcaster Rai 3 that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is “gradually advancing”. “Ukraine has launched a counter-offensive which obviously everyone expected to be faster, but it is gaining ground.”
He argued that all wars are “unpredictable” and added that “the stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the more territory it will be able to liberate, and the stronger it will be at the negotiating table.”
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