NATO to Boost Defence Across Entire Territory, Not Only Eastern Flank, Stoltenberg Says
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NATO wants to reinforce defence capabilities both in the east and throughout the alliance's entire territory to be able to counter threats from any direction, bracing for a long conflict in Ukraine which its intelligence anticipated back in Autumn 2021, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.
Stoltenberg told Spanish newspaper ABC that NATO expects the summit to boost preparedness and strengthen defenses throughout the alliances entire territory and not just the eastern flank.
He said nobody can tell precisely how soon the conflict in Ukraine would end but noted that NATO had shared intelligence on Ukraine last autumn and that the alliance should be ready that hostilities there would last long.
Stoltenberg also urged NATO countries to support Ukraine's right to self-defence.
The chief of the alliance also stressed that the bloc would embark on a path to deepening cooperation with the European Union and countries in the Indo-Pacific region at the Madrid summit, which is scheduled on 29-30 June.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration after their bilateral meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on January 10, 2022.
© JOHN THYS
"At the Madrid summit, we will chart the way ahead for the next decade. We will reset our deterrence and defense for a more dangerous world. We will deepen our cooperation with like-minded countries and organizations, including the European Union and countries in the Indo-Pacific," Stoltenberg said at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of Spain's accession to NATO.
According to Stoltenberg, Finland and Sweden are also expected to join the summit, given their "historic applications" for the membership in the alliance.
Earlier in May, Finland and Sweden submitted their membership bids to NATO but Turkey blocked them, claiming the two Nordic nations were supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party, labelled as terrorist in Turkey and several other countries.
