“NATO will not allow this”: Stoltenberg put Russia in its place

The North Atlantic Alliance will not make concessions to the Russian Federation and will not withdraw its troops from countries that have joined NATO since 1997.

This was stated by the Secretary General of the organization Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with CBC News.

“We cannot agree that there should be no NATO troops in the countries that have joined since 1997. After all, half of our members would then be left without protection”, – he said.

The NATO Secretary General added that in this case, second-class NATO members would appear, and “this will not be allowed in the Alliance.”

Stoltenberg also commented on the tense situation on the border with Ukraine.

“There is no certainty yet about what Russia’s intentions are”, he concluded.

Russia vs. NATO

• On January 12, negotiations were held within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council, at which Moscow’s demands were discussed – to abandon the expansion of the Alliance and in no case accept Ukraine there. The Kremlin also demanded guarantees that the West would not place weapons and military bases near Russia. On January 10, similar negotiations took place between the US and Russia.
• Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov threatened with countermeasures if Ukraine joins NATO. According to him, this poses a danger to Moscow.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin is afraid that NATO will deploy missiles in Ukraine that can fly to Moscow in 5-10 minutes. At the same time, the owner of the Kremlin warned that if “the obviously aggressive line of Western colleagues” continues, Moscow will take “adequate retaliatory military-technical measures.”