NATO chief warns ‘more death, suffering, destruction’ expected in Ukraine

4 March 2022, 3:18 pm

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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media prior to the start of a foreign ministers' meeting following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, on March 4, 2022. (Oliver Doulirey/Pool/AFP)

Speaking at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg says the days ahead in Ukraine are “likely to be worse.”

“The days to come are likely to be worse, with more death, more suffering, and more destruction, as the Russian armed forces bring in heavier weaponry and continue their attacks across the country,” he says.

“We call on President Putin to stop this war immediately, withdraw all his forces from Ukraine without conditions and engage in genuine diplomacy now,” he adds.

Stoltenberg also rejects the notion of NATO enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested.

“Allies agree that we should not have NATO planes operating over Ukrainian airspace or NATO troops on Ukrainian territory,” he says.

Stoltenberg says NATO has stepped up support for Ukraine, but it is “not part of this conflict.”

NATO has a “responsibility to ensure it does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine,” he says.

Stoltenberg says this would be “ever more devastating and dangerous.”