NATO chief Jens Stoltenbergasked this Saturday, at the Munich Security Conference, “to give Ukraine what it needs to win” the war unleashed after Russia’s invasion of that country almost a year ago.
“We must give Ukraine what it needs to win and prevail as a sovereign and independent nation in Europe,” he will say at the meeting of world leaders, according to excerpts of his speech seen by the AFP.
Russian President Vladimir “Putin does not plan peace, he plans more war […]”, he claimed. The NATO he believes that Russia is preparing a new major offensive.
According to Stoltenberg, there is “no indication that [Putin] has changed its ambitions”, by mobilizing “hundreds of thousands of troops” and seizing “more weapons from authoritarian countries such as Iran and North Korea”.
The day before, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German head of government, Olaf Scholz, had defended that the Western allies should give more aid to kyivespecially at the military level.
Stoltenberg, urged Western countries to “don’t make the same mistake with china” than with Russia, and avoid energy dependence on the Asian giant.
“We should not make the same mistake with China and other authoritarian regimes” as with Russia, Stoltenberg warned at the Munich Security Conference.
“We must not become too dependent on the products and raw materials we import,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda attend a joint statement during the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
“The war in Ukraine exposed the danger of excessive trust in authoritarian regimes,” the leader of the organization will underline. NATOwho will leave his duties at the end of this year.
“Not so long ago, many argued that the Russian import was a purely economic matter. It is not like this. It is a political question, ”he will point out.
According to him, “it is about our security. Because Europe’s dependence on Russian energy has made us vulnerable.”
Stoltenberg also noted the need to “avoid exporting key technologies that could be used against us.” [occidente]and protect our critical infrastructures”.
“Of course, we must continue to trade […] with Chinese. But our economic interests cannot prevail over our interests in [materia] of security”, he declared, judging “it is normal for us to protect ourselves”.
“But in doing this, we must remember that trade between friends and allies makes us stronger and more resilient. We must not create new barriers between free and open economies”, considers Stoltenberg.
“The most important lesson of the war in Ukraine is that North America and Europe must stay together,” he said.
More than 150 government representatives are attending this annual conference devoted to international security issues, including Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, who is visiting Moscow after a European tour.
Source: Infobae
