ANTALYA (TASS): Sanctions against Russia will have consequences for the whole world, no one wanted to impose them. This was stated on Friday by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at the opening of a diplomatic forum in Antalya.
“Of course, we imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia. <…> The combination of specific support and sanctions against Russia put pressure on Russian President [Vladimir] Putin,” Stoltenberg argued. “No one wanted to impose these sanctions. These sanctions will cost the whole world dearly, including those countries that imposed them,” he added.
Speaking about the support that NATO has provided to Ukraine, Stoltenberg explained that since 2014, the countries of the alliance “trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers”, which turned out to be “extremely important”, since many of them “are now on the front lines.” In addition, he pointed to the activation of NATO countries, which provide more support to Ukraine, including military, humanitarian and financial.
According to him, pressure on Russia will continue until it stops the operation in Ukraine. “Now it is necessary that President [Vladimir] Putin stop the war, withdraw his troops and start a peaceful solution. Until he does this, we will continue to put pressure on him through economic sanctions, through support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said. According to him, “the minimum that Russia must agree to is the opening of humanitarian corridors so that civilians can leave, and medicines and food can come.”
“Looking from a broader perspective, in these turbulent times when such security challenges and threats have arisen, we need strong international institutions like the UN, the EU and NATO. NATO is the strongest and most successful alliance in history because we hold on together. We are a defensive alliance and do not provoke conflicts,” Stoltenberg said.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. He stressed that Moscow’s plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, the goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. After that, the US, EU, UK, as well as a number of other states announced that they were imposing sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities.