September 14, 2024 | 11.12
READING TIME: 3 minutes
NATO could have done more to avoid war in Ukraine. The mea culpa of the Alliance comes with the words of the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, in an interview with the German magazine Fas. NATO, he says, could have acted differently to avoid the conflict triggered by the invasion of Russia ordered by Vladimir Putin in February 2022.
“Now we are providing war material for a war. Back then we could have provided war material to avoid a war,” Stoltenberg said, pointing out that the member countries of the Alliance were late and did not adopt solutions that could have deterred the conflict.
For the former Norwegian Prime Minister, the end of the war can only be decided at the negotiating table. “To end this war there will have to be a dialogue with Russia again. at a certain stage. But it will have to be based on Ukrainian strength,” he says.
Missiles against targets in Russia?
Stoltenberg’s words come as the US and UK consider allowing Kiev to use missiles against military targets on Russian territory. While a green light for American Atacms missiles in the short term seems unlikely, the possibility of a green light for the Storm Shadow missiles that London supplies to Kiev is more concrete. The topic was discussed at the White House in the meeting between American President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Ukraine has been invading Russia’s Kursk region for over a month and could launch its missiles from more advanced positions to try to hit military targets deep inside Russian territory. Moscow has repeatedly threatened “adequate” responses if Ukraine is allowed to use long-range missiles without restrictions. After repeated messages from Putin, here is also the warning from Dmitry Medvedev, former president and current number 1 of the Security Council: “Kiev will be razed to the ground,” he says, announcing that Russia’s patience “is running out.” Russia, he says, already has formal grounds to resort to nuclear weapons after Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, but could instead use some of its new weapons technology to reduce Kiev to “a giant molten place.” Russia could destroy the Ukrainian capital only with its non-nuclear weapons. So far, it has “chosen” not to do so, he points out, later stressing that “patience has its limits.”
New wave of drones against Ukraine
Meanwhile, Russia launched more than 70 Shahed drones over Ukraine last night. President Zelensky wrote this on Telegram, specifying that most of the drones were shot down.
Air defense systems have been put into operation in Kiev, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Odessa, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Kherson, Kharkiv and Donetsk, he added. “We need more capabilities to strengthen our air shield, our air defense and long-range capabilities so that we can continue to protect our people. We are working on this with all of Ukraine’s partners.”
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