NATO will not be a party to the conflict in Ukraine and will not send troops there because it intends to avoid war with Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"Since Russia’s invasion, we have significantly stepped up our support to help Ukraine uphold its right to self-defence," Stoltenberg said.
"NATO’s main responsibility is to protect all Allies and prevent this war from escalating. We don’t want to provoke conflict, but to prevent and preserve peace," he emphasized.
Stoltenberg also said that since 2014, NATO countries have already spent tens of billions of dollars on training and equipping the Ukrainian army. He stressed that NATO countries began to strengthen their own security since 2014 and now there are 40,000 troops under NATO command near the borders with Russia with "significant air and naval assets", another 100,000 are on high alert. He mentioned that the alliance considers all these preparations as "deterrence", aimed at "removing any room for misunderstanding or miscalculation in Moscow".
