Published on 01/03/2022 13:33
(Credit: Jessica Taylor/British Parliament/AFP)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “very wrong” if he thinks an invasion of Ukraine will lead to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) withdrawing its borders in Eastern Europe. “Putin will have more NATO, not less,” the prime minister said during a press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
According to Johnson, Putin “underestimated” the resilience of Ukrainian forces and the unity of the West in response to the invasion. However, both Johnson and Stoltenberg emphasized that they did not intend to take part in a military fight against Russia. “NATO is a defensive alliance, and we do not seek conflict,” the secretary-general said.
Stoltenberg said it is necessary to continue providing economic and military support to Ukraine, while putting pressure on the Russian economy with sanctions. Johnson made comments along the same lines. He declared that “Putin and his regime need to be isolated from the international community.”
For Klass, the Russian invasion shows that Putin has gone from “tyrannical to mere aggressor,” while Ukraine has become a “hostile country” to the Kremlin, and thus NATO must adopt a more defensive posture.
