BERLIN: NATO’s secretary general called on Europe to increase its arms production to support Ukraine and prevent “potentially decades of confrontation” with Moscow, in an interview published by German media Saturday.
Ahead of a key meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels and the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, Jens Stoltenberg insisted that “we need to reconstitute and expand our industrial base faster, to increase deliveries to Ukraine and refill our own stocks.”
“This means shifting from slow peacetime to high-tempo conflict production,” he told the German Sunday daily Welt am Sonntag.
Stoltenberg’s comments came amidst growing pleas for shells, ammunition and other military aide from Ukraine as it battles Russian forces into a third year.
Western leaders have also called for greater assistance. Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Joe Biden urged US lawmakers Friday to approve a long-delayed military aid package for Ukraine, warning that Kyiv could not hold off Russia’s invasion without it.
“The failure of the United States’ Congress in not supporting Ukraine is close to criminal neglect,” Biden said as he hosted Scholz in the Oval Office on Friday.
Stoltenberg said: “There is no imminent military threat against any ally. At the same time, we hear regular threats from the Kremlin against NATO countries.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years has shown that “peace in Europe cannot be taken for granted,” the NATO chief said, emphasising the importance of protecting countries in the alliance.
“As long as we invest in our security and we stay united, we will continue to deter any aggression,” he said.
“NATO does not seek war with Russia, but we need to brace ourselves for potentially decades of confrontation,” he added.
“We monitor closely what Russia does and we have increased our presence in the eastern part of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said.
“If Putin wins in Ukraine, there is no guarantee that Russian aggression will not spread further. So supporting Ukraine now and investing in NATO’s own capabilities is our best defense.”
NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels on February 15, one week ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. A meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group will be a key feature of the talks.
NATO chief calls on Europe to ramp up arms production
https://arab.news/yg63k
NATO chief calls on Europe to ramp up arms production
- Jens Stoltenberg: ‘We need to reconstitute and expand our industrial base faster, to increase deliveries to Ukraine and refill our own stocks’
US ‘totally stupid’ to attack Iran during talks: UN ambassador
- “War was not our option. War was imposed on Iran,” Bahreini told UN correspondents
- “Nobody should expect Iran to show restraint in front of aggression”
GENEVA: The United States made a “totally stupid decision” to attack Iran while in negotiations, and betrayed Gulf nations by trashing their diplomatic efforts, Tehran’s UN ambassador said Tuesday.
Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador in Geneva, insisted Tehran had no problem with its neighbors, but could not let US bases in the Gulf be used as launchpads for attacks on Iran.
“War was not our option. War was imposed on Iran,” Bahreini told UN correspondents.
“Nobody should expect Iran to show restraint in front of aggression.
“We will continue our defense until the point that this aggression is stopped,” he said.
On February 26, Washington and Tehran held indirect negotiations in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program — with the Omani mediators reporting “significant progress.”
Bahreini was present for part of those talks and said “everybody was optimistic” and the US team “agreed to continue negotiations” in Vienna this week.
But Bahreini said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convinced US President Donald Trump to destroy diplomacy and attack Iran, with strikes starting on Saturday.
“It was a totally stupid decision. They will know in the future how stupid this decision has been. Both of them will understand, because Iran will firmly determine the situation and the destiny of this war,” he said.
“All our neighbors are now disappointed with the betrayal of the United States because everybody was working for diplomacy, particularly Oman.
“The US betrayed everybody.”
- ‘Not a regional war’ -
Tehran has launched strikes against countries in the region that host US bases.
“I cannot accept labelling what we are doing as reprisal. What we are doing is a kind of self-defense,” said Bahreini.
The ambassador said Iran’s problem was not with its neighbors, describing the Gulf countries as friends.
“We are in daily dialogue with our neighbors to convey to them the message that this war is not a war against our neighbors.
“This is not a regional war.
“But we cannot ignore the fact that the US bases in their lands are operational against us.
“In no way we can allow those bases to be used to make military operations against Iran.”
He said Iran’s operations were “exclusively” against US military targets, and said “there has been very serious order given to our military forces not to make any harm to civilians.”
Trump claimed Tuesday that the Iranian leadership “want to talk” but Bahreini insisted no approach had been made to Washington, saying “there hasn’t been any contact from our side” since the war erupted.
