Photo: MARKUS SCHREIBER/AP/DPA/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
“Last December Putin presented an ultimatum to NATO, he demanded a binding treaty… NATO’s withdrawal from Eastern Europe and a stop to enlargement. He wanted less NATO on his borders and now he is getting more NATO on his borders and more members. Finland and Sweden have announced their candidacy for membership and this is historic”, said the secretary general of the Atlantic alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at the Davos Forum.
He also stressed that the Russian president “has not achieved his strategic goals in Ukraine. He wanted to go into kyiv and cut off the government’s head… he wanted a quick military operation and now Russia has a long and onerous war”.
Stoltenberg said that “the war of Putin against Ukraine has destroyed peace in Europe, it is a radical change for the world order”, and for this reason, NATO has two fundamental tasks: “to provide support to Ukraine and prevent the war from escalating”.
“We must ensure that this terrible war does not escalate into a full-fledged war between Russia and Europe. That is why we want to support Ukraine but we are not going to send troops on the ground, we are not going to get directly involved”, he said in response to a question about that possibility.
Sánchez: Sweden and Finland will go to the summit
For his part, the President of the Spanish Government , Pedro Sánchez, expressed in Davos his intention to accelerate the parliamentary process to approve the accession to NATO of Sweden and Finland and affirmed that the political will of the partners is to welcome these countries.
When asked if Sweden and Finland will be at the summit of the Atlantic Alliance to be held in Madrid at the end of June, he replied: “Of course”.
He added that the main result expected at that summit is unity between NATO and the EU, defining the strategic concept and the organization until 2030.
In his opinion, one of Putin’s main mistakes was underestimating the reality ction of the EU and NATO to the invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, he stressed that Putin’s challenge affects the whole world and therefore this concern should be shared with partners outside the EU. In this regard, he said that this is something that is being promoted through dialogue with Latin American leaders, because “it is a global challenge.”