NATO chief warns other neighbours may be next if Russia wins ongoing war in Ukraine

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned the world will be a "more dangerous place" if Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds in his ambitions in Ukraine. Referring to the Western military alliance, Stoltenberg reiterated that the West has the joint task of both fighting against the Russian invasion and supporting Ukraine in this war. Stressing that NATO has a moral responsibility to support Ukraine and its people who are facing Russian aggression, he said: "If Russia wins this war, he (Putin) will have confirmation that violence works. And then other neighbouring countries may be next."

"We are seeing acts of war, attacks on civilians, and destruction not seen since World War II," Stoltenberg said, according to a NATO release. "We cannot be indifferent to this," he said while addressing a youth camp in Utoya, Norway.

"President Putin has attacked an entire innocent country and its people with military force to achieve his political goals. What he is doing is challenging the world order we believe in. where all countries, large and small, can choose their path. He does not accept the sovereignty of other countries," said the NATO Chief.

Invasion of Ukraine an attack on world order: Stoltenberg

Slamming Putin over his decision to attack Ukraine, the NATO chief stated that this invasion of Ukraine is "also an attack on our values and the world order". He further lambasted Russia for urging NATO to remove all military infrastructure from the Ukraine borders and not admit more member states to the bloc. He added that Russia has achieved the opposite as NATO is "stronger, more unified, more agile, and more decisive." 

Addressing the political event, Stoltenberg also spoke about the preparedness of NATO. He said, since the onset of the war in Ukraine, "we have had around 40,000 soldiers under NATO command, mainly in the east" backed by a significant number of aircraft and ships. A new initiative to strengthen the defence system of NATO was adopted at the Summit in Madrid in June. He said more than 300,000 forces are at high readiness across the Alliance, and more prepositioned military equipment, primarily to defend the eastern part of the alliance.

Image: AP/ Representative