NATO chief sends ‘clear message’ to Russia during his visit to Sweden

LONDON

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sent a “clear message” to Russia on Friday, stating that the alliance’s support for Ukraine will persist as long as necessary to make Moscow realize it cannot continue its war on Ukraine.

An ongoing support for Ukraine will make Russia realize that it cannot “wait out” before ending the war, said Stoltenberg during his visit to Sweden, where he held a joint press conference together with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Kristersson announced that Sweden will contribute Swedish aircraft to monitor NATO’s airspace, also known as “air-policing.”

“It is a permanent participation,” Kristersson told reporters at the Stockholm conference.

Stoltenberg welcomed the government’s decision while praising the competence of the Swedish special forces.

This move entails Swedish combat aircraft carrying out missions within the framework of “NATO air policing,” primarily over the so-called front states in the Baltics, Kristersson explained.

In May, Stoltenberg urged the US and the NATO countries in the EU to allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles for strikes inside Russia.

Meanwhile, European Union High Representative Josep Borrell suggested that Western leaders should avoid “risking escalation” by allowing Ukrainian forces to use weapons on Russian territory.

However, during a meeting in Brussels last month, Borrell said that self-defense strikes against military targets on Russian territory “are a legitimate act under international law when done in a proportionate manner.”

Borrell stressed that each EU member state should decide individually on the issue.

In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the West with “serious consequences” if Ukraine is allowed to use Western long-range weapons on Russian territory, according to the national newspaper The Moscow Times.

Putin warned that Kyiv striking inside Russia could trigger a global conflict.

In response to the West’s delivery of long-range weapons to Kyiv, Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Moscow could arm countries that are considering attacking Western targets.

Several countries including the US have given Ukraine a permission to strike targets inside Russian soil.

• Jens Stoltenberg
• NATO
• Sweden