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NATO chief to Putin “immediately stop this war” and calls for diplomacy

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference ahead of a meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on March 15, 2022.

Kenzo Tribuillard | AFP | Getty Images

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin “immediately” to end the war in Ukraine, adding that Russia’s attempts to undermine the alliance had failed.

“President Putin must stop this war immediately. [and] engage in diplomacy in good faith,” Stoltenberg said at an extraordinary meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium.

At the same time, he said the military alliance had agreed to double its support for Ukraine by providing additional military supplies, financial aid and humanitarian aid.

Stoltenberg added that member states will expand their defenses on land, in the air, at sea and in space in response to the “new reality for our security”, while welcoming new financial commitments from Germany and Denmark.

“President Putin’s goal was to undermine NATO. What he has done is to strengthen NATO… He is strengthening NATO on his borders,” he said.

However, when asked if NATO had changed its position regarding the accelerated consideration of Ukraine’s application, Stoltenberg said that the alliance had not changed.

“Our message to Ukraine is the same as it has been for many years… it has the right to choose its own path,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference.

“It is up to them whether they decide to apply to NATO,” he continued, adding that the application would then be put to a vote by member states. “Russia should not try to veto such a process.”

The comments come hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the U.S. Congress via videoconference, pleading for more help to help his embattled country fight the Russian invasion.

In his nearly 20-minute speech, Zelenskiy once again urged the US to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine to stop Russian attacks that have killed thousands.

“Is it too much to ask to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people?” he said from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. “Is that too much to ask?”

Western allies have so far resisted Ukraine’s calls for a no-fly zone, arguing that it would lead to direct conflict between NATO and Russia – a move that member states say would mark the official start of World War III.

Recognizing this, Zelensky offered an alternative: providing additional weapons and humanitarian aid, along with even tougher sanctions against Putin and his inner circle.

Russian-Ukrainian negotiations

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce additional hundreds of millions of dollars in additional aid to Ukraine later Wednesday and is scheduled to meet with NATO leaders in Brussels next week.

Ukraine is in constant negotiations with Russia to end the conflict, which has already reached its 21st day.

Earlier Wednesday, Moscow hinted that its goal is to turn Ukraine into a so-called neutral state comparable to Sweden or Austria. Under the proposals, Ukraine would be allowed to have a limited army of its own, but would be prevented from achieving the ultimate goal of NATO membership.

“The Russian Federation believes that the Swedish version of a neutral state in Ukraine can be seen as a compromise,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

Putin on Tuesday accused Kyiv of not being serious about finding a compromise.