Former NATO Secretary General Reveals How the Alliance Crossed Putin's “Red Lines”

Former NATO Secretary General Reveals How the Alliance Crossed Putin's “Red Lines” Irina Martsiyash

Stoltenberg spoke about Putin's “red lines”/Collage 24 Channel, Getty Images (Photo illustrative)

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg formulated NATO's approach from the very beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine – to support Ukraine, but not to be part of the conflict. At the same time, many of the “red lines” that Kremlin leader Putin has declared have been crossed at this point, and he has done nothing.

He said this in an interview with the Financial Times.

“Many of them have already been crossed, and he has done nothing.”

In any case, I insisted on crossing all of those so-called “red lines” that Putin has set. And we have crossed many of them, and he has done nothing. The reality is that if President Putin wants to escalate with weapons of mass destruction, he will be able to come up with all the excuses he needs. For now, we are calling this bluff,” Stoltenberg said.

He recalled that there were days and weeks, especially at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when NATO had to discuss the issue of Russia's so-called “red lines.”

“Of course, you have to stop and think that this is perhaps too dangerous. But then the alternative of stopping support for Ukraine because of certain rhetoric is not really an option,” the former NATO Secretary General said.

The official also said that from the very beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he formulated NATO's approach – to support Ukraine, but not to be part of the conflict.