“The Russians have become more active”: Stoltenberg answered whether Putin is ready for peace

Stoltenberg assessed Russia's readiness for peace/Collage 24 Channel

Jens Stoltenberg said that the Russian leadership is not ready to end the war in Ukraine, despite statements about a possible peace. He noted that the Russians, on the contrary, have intensified their actions on the battlefield.

NATO Secretary General said this on the eve of the meeting of defense ministers in Brussels, correspondent reports 24 Channel. He also added that no one is persuading Kyiv to negotiate with Russia.

Does Putin want peace

Stoltenberg says the only quick way to end the war is to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine and stop attacks from Putin.

The challenge is that we see no signs that President Putin in Russia plans to end this war. On the contrary, we see that they are becoming more active,” he said.

According to the head of NATO, the Ukrainians will decide what acceptable conditions for negotiations are. Stoltenberg added that events on the battlefield are inextricably linked at the peace table. The Secretary General called on the allies to provide military support to Ukraine so that it could demonstrate to Putin that he will not win on the battlefield and will not occupy the country.

According to Stoltenberg, under such conditions Russia recognizes that “Ukraine must prevail as a sovereign, independent state in Europe.”

Putin must return the occupied territories before negotiations

In the event of peace negotiations with Russia, Ukraine must take a strong position, and the Russian leadership must be punished. In addition, Russia's frozen assets should be used to restore Ukraine. This was stated by Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds, a Channel 24 correspondent reports.

He noted that the EU understands what they will be dealing with and recalled that Putin has provided certain negotiation. According to Sproods, a quick way to bring peace closer is to increase aid to Ukraine.

We know what we're dealing with. This is an individual who is accused of war crimes, so I think the most important thing is to focus on supporting Ukraine. “We must speak from the perspective of the strong, not the weak,” he said. the return of all occupied territories, the use of frozen assets of the Russian Federation and the punishment of the Russian military leadership.

“These are the principles by which we must approach any conversation with war criminals,” he said .