While Germany stressed that NATO should not be part of the conflict in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed the German sentiment and added in an interview with German newspaper Dolce Welle on Wednesday that NATO is not a party and does not intend to become a party to the dispute between the two neighbors.
Stoltenberg also emphasized that NATO is not a party, praising that the alliance did not send forces or aircraft there.
This came after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stressed the need to exclude NATO from clashes.
Pistorius said at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday that this principle remains in force today and NATO should not become a party to the war.
The German minister also indicated that NATO countries with Leopard tanks could supply them to Ukraine and Germany would not object to this, adding that Germany’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine was a “separate issue.”
It is noteworthy that NATO announced the deployment of reconnaissance aircraft equipped with an airborne warning and control system in Bucharest to start reconnaissance flights exclusively over the territory of NATO member countries.
Since the beginning of the Russian military operation on the territory of its western neighbor on February 24, NATO countries have lined up with Kyiv, supporting it with weapons and equipment, while imposing thousands of sanctions on the Russians.
Russia has repeatedly accused the West of seeking to threaten its strategic security through NATO expansion in its vicinity, which it considered a red line.
