Russian President Vladimir Putin, in starting the war against Ukraine, made a strategic mistake by underestimating the ability of Ukrainians to defend themselves and the ability of allies to support Ukraine.
Source: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg
“President Putin made a strategic mistake. He totally underestimated the strength and the will and the ability of the Ukrainian people, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces to defend themselves, and he underestimated the unity of NATO and NATO Allies and partners to support Ukraine. And again, what we see is US leadership helping this to happen, both on the political-diplomatic level, but also when it comes to organizing and coordinating the military support through the Support Group for Ukraine.”
Stoltenberg is convinced of the need to continue to support Ukraine, because “the alternative not to support Ukraine, that will actually enable President Putin to win. That will be dangerous for all of us, and the price we have to pay will be higher than to now invest in the support for Ukraine.”
“What we do know is that almost all wars end at some stage at the negotiating table, and this has also been clearly stated by President Zelenskyy that at some stage this will end at the negotiating table. I have trust and I have confidence in the political leadership in Ukraine that they can make the hard judgments – judgments and decisions – on negotiations and what to agree to when negotiations at some point will start.”
See also: NATO Parliamentary Assembly calls on Allied governments to help promote Ukraine to the Alliance
