NATO chief makes 1st visit to Ukraine since Russian invasion – National | 24CA News
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is visiting Ukraine for the primary time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion greater than a 12 months in the past, an alliance official stated Thursday.
“The NATO secretary-general is in Ukraine. We will release more information as soon as possible,” stated an alliance official, who requested to not be recognized according to NATO procedures.
Pictures of Stoltenberg apparently paying tribute to fallen Ukrainian troopers in Kyiv’s St Michael’s Square have been printed by native media.
Apart from the vital symbolism of the go to, the precise function of Stoltenberg’s journey wasn’t instantly clear. NATO has no official presence in Ukraine. As a corporation of 31 nations, it solely offers nonlethal help – turbines, medical tools, tents, navy uniforms and different provides – to the federal government in Kyiv.
Stoltenberg has been the robust voice of the alliance all through the warfare and has been instrumental in garnering and coordinating help by the 31 members for Ukraine because the nation sought to carry on to its territory.
Stoltenberg had been to Kyiv earlier than the warfare, however that is his first go to through the hostilities and underscores the longstanding commitments of the alliance in protection of Ukraine’s independence.
Earlier this month, Finland joined NATO, dealing a significant blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a historic realignment of Europe’s post-Cold War safety panorama triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Nordic nation’s membership doubles Russia’s border with the world’s largest safety alliance. Neighboring Sweden is predicted to affix in coming months too, presumably by the point U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet within the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on July 11-12.
The world’s largest safety alliance has centered on bolstering defenses by itself territory to dissuade Putin from attacking any member nation. Under NATO’s collective safety assure, an assault on one member nation is taken into account to be an assault on all of them.
The U.S. and plenty of different members are offering weapons, ammunition and coaching for Ukraine’s embattled troops bilaterally and in teams, however NATO as an entire needs to keep away from being dragged into any potential warfare with nuclear armed Russia.
On Friday, Stoltenberg will attend a Ukraine Defense Contact Group assembly at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
Lorne Cook reported from Brussels.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
