NATO chief says Putin won’t win in Ukraine: Reuters

Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, reacted to Putin’s ‘partial escalation’ plans, in an exclusive interview with Reuters. 

Speaking to Alessandra Galloni of Reuters, in New York, Stoltenberg said that Putin has made a “big miscalculation” and he will not win the war despite the Russian president’s threat to use nuclear weapons.

“The speech of President Putin demonstrates that the war is not going according to President Putin’s plans. He has made a big miscalculation,” the 63-year-old said, adding, “More troops will escalate the conflict. That will mean more suffering, more loss of lives – Ukrainian lives, but also Russian lives.” 

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Stoltenberg, the former Norway president now serving as the NATO secretary general spoke in response to Moscow’s recent announcement of mobilising 3,00,000 reservist troops in its war efforts against Ukraine. This move, if materialized, will be Russia’s biggest since World War II. 

Putin, in his televised address, had warned that Russia has a bigger capacity for destruction and weapons that are “more modern than those of NATO countries”. 

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all available means to protect our people – this is not a bluff,” Putin said.

The Russian president’s speech has come following a series of setbacks where Russia lost control of multiple regions in the southern, eastern, and northern fronts of Ukraine. Moscow had earlier announced plans to hold referendums in the Russia-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine. 

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With these developments in the offing, Stoltenberg said that NATO is ready for a ‘long-haul’ in its efforts to control Putin’s action. He believes that the conflict will end only when Putin recognizes Russia as a sovereign and independent nation.

“The only way to end this war is to prove that President Putin will not win on the battlefield. When he realizes that, he has to sit down and negotiate a reasonable agreement with Ukraine,” he told Reuters.