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Stoltenberg, NATO ready to defend itself against Moscow or Minsk
NATO is ready to defend itself against any threat coming from “Moscow or Minsk”. This was stated by the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, after Belarus announced that it will welcome Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Stoltenberg, who tonight dined in The Hague with some European leaders, including Dutch premier Mark Rutte, said that NATO at the next summit scheduled for mid-July in Vilnius will agree to strengthen defenses to protect all its members, in particular those bordering Belarus.
“It is too early to make a definitive judgment on the consequences of Prigozhin moving to Belarus and that some of his forces will also most likely be stationed in Belarus,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “What is absolutely clear is that we have sent a clear message to Moscow and Minsk that NATO is there to protect every ally and every inch of NATO territory. So there is no room for misunderstandings in Moscow or Minsk about our ability to defend allies against any potential threat, and that is regardless of what you think about the movement of the Wagner forces.”
Stoltenberg added that the West “must not underestimate Russia” despite the chaos of the weekend, caused by the Prigozhin mutiny. And he added that it is crucial to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and that NATO allies would chart a path towards Kiev joining. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has warned of the risk of Belarus hosting Wagner fighters. “If Wagner deploys his serial killers in Belarus, all neighboring countries face an even greater danger of instability,” he said at the news conference.
The host of the dinner, Rutte, dismissed Putin’s claims that the West wanted Russians to kill each other: “I refute what Putin suggested yesterday that we in the West want Russia to descend into internal chaos. On the contrary, instability in Russia creates instability in Europe”.