Stoltenberg on Putin: We can't change his thinking

upday.com 2 weeks ago
Jens Stoltenberg, erstwhile Secretary-General of NATO and Prime Minister of Norway, acknowledged at a Wednesday gathering promoting his latest book that in 2014 he hoped to manage the Alliance peacefully, but the reality turned out to be completely different. We will not change what Putin thinks – he emphasized the politician.PAP

Jens Stoltenberg, presenting his book "På min vakt" (På min vakt) admitted that erstwhile he took on the position of Secretary General of NATO, he did not anticipate to lead the Alliance during the top crisis since the end of the Cold War. The October 1 book describes his experience with 8 years at the head of NATO.

In 2014, there was no indication that the White home could always even mention a possible NATO appearance. Nor did anyone foretell that within a fewer years at the Alliance's borders the war caused by Moscow would erupt and Russian and unmanned aircraft would regularly violate its borders.

First crises and experiences

"The first crisis I managed as NATO's secretary-general was that the Turks shot down a Russian bomber erstwhile he flew into their airspace," said Stoltenberg during a gathering in Oslo. The current Norwegian finance minister acknowledged that his eight-year experience as Prime Minister of the country proved valuable before moving NATO.

Stoltenberg pointed out that his experience of the bombings in Oslo and Utoya in 2011 confirmed him in the belief that terrorism takes on different faces. "Every time, however, we must effort to fight him" - he stressed. "The defeat of the muslim State (IS), which in 2014 controlled the territory of the size of Britain and managed a population of 8 million people, was 1 of the main goals of my first term" - recalled the erstwhile NATO chief.

Russian aggression as a major challenge

The challenge that dominated the 2 tenure of Stoltenberg was Russia's policy - in peculiar the consequence to the Russian full-sized aggression on Ukraine started in 2022. Although the erstwhile NATO chief is far from content, he admitted that allies are now able to emergence to the challenge.

For example, he pointed out Poland, where in his opinion NATO full shows how crucial it is. "Recently, Russian drones were shot down by Poles and Dutch. In a minute Norwegian F-35 will arrive in Poland. Italians supply early informing aircraft, and on-call fighter jets are fueled in the air with British machines. Americans fly over the Baltic and Germany supplies anti-aircraft batteries" - said Stoltenberg.

Assessment of Putin and the future of NATO

Stoltenberg had no uncertainty about the goodwill of the Kremlin in ending the war in Ukraine. He besides does not anticipate Vladimir Putin to abandon his ambition to take control of Kiev.

"His goal is to consolidate Russian domination of Ukraine. We will not change his thinking, but we can make it more clear that going in that direction will be even more costly to him. Any peace on Moscow conditions will indeed be a Russian occupation. We can't let that happen. We request to supply Ukraine with more weapons so that Putin does not have (possibility) to occupy (a neighbouring country)" - said the erstwhile NATO chief.

Stoltenberg disagreed with the opinion that US president Donald Trump planned to decision his country out of the Alliance. He pointed out that American aircraft carriers have never been present in European ports as frequently as they are now, and the allied aircraft have not so far monitored the airspace on the Baltic, Poland, Romania or Barents Sea. "We should not focus on how NATO can do without Americans. Our occupation is to do everything we can to keep them in it. That is why we must make our own defence" - concluded the erstwhile head of the Alliance.

Sources used: "PAP" Note: This article has been edited with the aid of Artificial Intelligence.

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