NATO Secretary General Strongly Stands With Ukraine – OpEd

NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg visited Ukraine on 20 April for the first time during the hostilities since Russia invaded more than a year ago. NATO has no official presence in Ukraine, but Stoltenberg has been the strong voice of the alliance throughout the war. He has been instrumental in garnering and coordinating support including weapons, ammunition and training. The visit, just two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin himself went to Ukraine, a highly symbolic trip that underscores the alliance’s commitment to helping Kyiv defend itself.

Stoltenberg said “Aiding Ukraine is the morally right thing to do”.It is also in the best interests of the nations of Europe and the globe. “If President Putin wins, it will make the world more dangerous and us more vulnerable because then the message is that when authoritarian powers, like Russia, like President Putin, uses force, they get what they want. So, it’s in the security interest of NATO allies to support Ukraine.” Stoltenberg cautioned that    “We  should never underestimate Russia.”

NATO Garnering Support for Ukraine:

NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg has been instrumental in garnering support for Ukraine: 

• “Weapons Are – In Fact – The Way To Peace”: NATO Secretary General stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine, including with more weapons, in a speech to the Annual Conference of the Norwegian Confederation of Enterprises in Oslo on 5 January 2023.”Weapons are – in fact – the way to peace”. He stressed the need for Allies to invest more in defence, eliminate dependencies on authoritarian regimes, and to stand together to uphold freedom and democracy. 

• “NATO stands with Ukraine.” Stoltenberg visit to Ukrainian capital, Kyiv sent the message to the people of the country that “NATO stands with Ukraine.” Stoltenberg met with Ukrainian President Zelensky and toured the city, seeing burned out Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers, bombed buildings and the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Stoltenberg praised Zelenskyy’s personal leadership and said the courage of Ukraine’s armed forces and the resilience of the Ukrainian people have inspired all. “We stand by you today in your heroic fight against the Russian invaders and in defense of your country. And we will stand by you tomorrow as you rebuild and work toward a brighter future for the Ukrainian people.”

• “Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO, and over time, our support will help you make this possible.”  Kremlin continues to warn that Ukraine must not be allowed to join NATO.

• “Russian atrocities continue against the Ukrainian people today, and those responsible must be held to account.”
• Ukraine’s allies have sent more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment and vast amounts of ammunition. Also trained and equipped more than Nine New Ukrainian Brigades! More than 30,000 troops are estimated to make up the new brigades. “This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory.” Difficult to be believed for a country fighting war for over a year facing heavy fatal casualties to come with Nine New Armoured Brigades within few month! What will be their war fighting capability? Green Horn Brigades will be put on test? 
• “Multi-year program of support for Ukraine” is likely to be planned during the NATO summit in July in Lithuania.In the face of what appears will be a prolonged conflict, NATO countries “must stay the course and continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to prevail.” 
• “Any possibility for meaningful negotiations requires that Ukraine has the necessary military strength to send a very clear message to President Putin that he will not win on the battlefield.”

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg participated in a meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany on 21 April 2023, following his visit to Ukraine. The meeting was chaired by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. NATO Secretary General stressed the importance of stepping up military aid for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s brutal war of aggression. He further underlined the importance of stepping up non-lethal military assistance.

Peace a Distant Dream 

The world at large,India, China,France and Russia are  interested to end the Russia-Ukraine war early. While NATO says it poses no threat to Russia, however Finland has joined the NATO during the war and Sweden will be next. Stoltenberg’s promises to include Ukraine is to further enlarge the NATO boundaries eastward towards Russia and further add fuel to the fire by forcing Russia to react.

Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO remains one of the goals of what Moscow calls its “special military operation.”  Ukraine’s joining NATO would pose a “serious, significant threat to our country, to our country’s security.” 

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg’s actions and statements at no stage give an indication that the NATO or the West is keen to end this proxy war any time soon.Stoltenberg said the 31 NATO allies were committed to shoring up Ukraine’s military.On the other hand all NATO Secretary General’s actions are to arm Ukraine for a counter offensive so that Ukraine is in a strong position to continue to retake  territories occupied by Russia.

The NATO alliance has focused on bolstering defenses on its own territory to dissuade Putin from attacking any member country.Under NATO’s collective security guarantee, an attack on one member country is considered to be an attack on them all.US led NATO is eager to take the Russia-Ukraine conflict as an opportunity to globalize the organization.US collective partnership and new associations  are a way win allies into the bloc to confront  Russia and China. NATO happens to be the only real Military Bloc in the present world scenario led by the US.

Russia has sought to portray the involvement of NATO countries in bolstering Ukraine’s defenses as the alliance being directly involved in the conflict and the US led  NATO  alliance continues to deny. All this when NATO Secretary General himself has stated that “Ukraine’s allies have sent more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks… trained and equipped more than Nine New Ukrainian Armoured Brigades! This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory.“Weapons Are – In Fact – The Way To Peace.”

The head of Russia’s private Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Ukraine was preparing for an “inevitable” counter-offensive and lately Ukrainian President Zelensky has also stated that “Ukraine is Gearing Up for a Counter Offensive.”Escalating attacks appear to be a part of an impending Ukrainian Counter Offensive.

In the prevailing scenario Peace is likely to remain a distant dream to the Russia-Ukraine War ; “A War  which should not have Happened.”