NATO must continue to support Kiev so it can negotiate with Moscow about becoming an independent state, the US-led bloc’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday.
Speaking at the ceremony to admit Sweden into NATO, Stoltenberg repeated the bloc’s talking points about supporting Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, but chose to frame the very hypothetical peace talks in terms of independence and sovereignty.
“We must continue to strengthen Ukraine to show [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin that he will not get what he wants on the battlefield but must sit down and negotiate a solution where Ukraine is recognized and prevails as a sovereign, independent nation,” Stoltenberg said.
According to the Norwegian politician, Putin’s objective was “less NATO and more control over his neighbors” and “to destroy Ukraine as a sovereign state.” Stoltenberg insisted that Russia had failed because NATO is “bigger and stronger” and Ukraine is “closer to NATO membership than ever before.”
He did not clarify how NATO membership related to independence and sovereignty.