HELSINKI: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that the alliance had no plans to deploy troops to Ukraine, despite many of its members supplying Kyiv with weapons since Moscow’s invasion.
NATO has no plans to deploy troops to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said during a visit to Finland, adding that the alliance was seeking a long-term financial commitment to ensure that it stands by Kyiv for as long as it takes, AFP reported.
Stoltenberg said that over the last months, we have seen some gaps, and some delays in the provision of military support to Kyiv. We need to ensure that that does not happen again.
The visit marked Stoltenberg’s first to Finland since the nation joined NATO in April 2023, prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thereby leaving decades of military non-alignment behind.
Stoltenberg’s tour came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday joined Western leaders in France to commemorate D-Day.
Ukrainian President to meet US Counterpart
While there, Zelensky is due to meet US President Joe Biden for discussions on how Ukraine can gain background after recent Russian advances.
Asked to comment on the risk of a Russian attack against a NATO member, Stoltenberg replied that they did not see an imminent military threat against any NATO ally.
This idea that there is a kind of a countdown to the next war is wrong, he added.
Great to be in Helsinki for the 1st time since #Finland joined #NATO. President @alexstubb and I continued preparing the #NATOSummit, and I thanked him for 🇫🇮’s many contributions to the Alliance – including 2% defence spending, strong support to #Ukraine, and now, air policing. pic.twitter.com/qnx6PvA7g3
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) June 6, 2024
