NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Any negotiations between Moscow and Kiev about a peace agreement are "inextricably" linked to the situation on the battlefield, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated, insisting that the bloc must send even more military aid to Kiev.
Speaking in Washington at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Stoltenberg said that aid to Ukraine is "not charity" but is an "investment into our own security."
He also shared his view that, in order to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine, the West needs to ramp up its support for Kiev and send it more weapons and ammunition, proclaiming that "weapons to Ukraine is the path to peace."
The comments come as the future of Western aid to Ukraine looks increasingly uncertain, with many of Kiev's backers running out of resources to help the country. The Ukrainian leadership is also reportedly losing hope of success against Russia, without Western support.
Stoltenberg also argued that a Ukrainian surrender could not be considered a "just peace," which, he prescribed, can only be reached by having Russian President Vladimir Putin "realize that he will not get what he wants on the battlefield."
Comment: The phrase that aid to Ukraine is "not charity" but is an "investment into our own security is not original. Stoltenberg used at the recent WEF meeting and just a few days ago, US senator,Jeanne Shaheen, in the Boston Globe wrote:
America's targeted assistance to Ukraine is not charity, nor is it a blank check. It is a strategic investment with oversight that bolsters US deterrence, protects democracies across Europe, and strengthens the US industrial base — including to contractors in New England.The US senator is a member of the CFR and in the above, it is clear that what she writes above is from the same script as Stoltenberg and Blinken. It is equally clear that none of them are at all interested in what happens to Ukraine as a country or what happens to ordinary Ukrainians. To them it is a war against Russia because they see it to be a real threat to their hegemonic 'rules based' order. They argue by saying that allocating more money to Ukraine is also good for the US as the money in truth gets funnelled to the American military industrial complex, where many of them get serious 'donations'.
Blinken nonetheless admitted during their press conference that the lack of foreign military aid to Kiev, especially now that Washington has run out of the military assistance it has been providing to it, has put Ukraine in a tough spot on the battlefield.
The Secretary of State reiterated the White House's calls on Republican lawmakers in Congress to approve Joe Biden's $60-billion additional military aid package for Kiev, which has been stuck in the House of Representatives for several months now. The GOP has refused to greenlight the bill unless Biden agrees to revise and tighten the US' border-control laws.
Blinken stressed that it is "vital" that Congress pass the president's supplemental budget request in order to "ensure that Ukraine knows success and Russia knows strategic failure," noting that without US assistance, "everything that Ukrainians achieved ... will be in jeopardy."
Moscow, meanwhile, has repeatedly denounced Western military support to Ukraine, stressing that "pumping" the country with more weapons and ammunition has only served to prolong the fighting and cause more bloodshed without affecting the inevitable outcome of the conflict.
Fixed that for you Jens, you 🤡