Europe

Home page

Europe

NATO sees no direct, imminent threat from Russia, says secretary general

23 January 2024 14:18 (UTC +04:00)

NATO sees no direct or imminent threat from Russia, the bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, APA reports.

"We don’t see any direct or imminent threat against any NATO ally. Therefore, we, of course, monitor closely what Russia does," he said in response to a question. "We have increased our vigilance and our presence in the eastern part of the alliance," Stoltenberg added.

According to him, NATO set two goals after the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The first goal was "to support Ukraine" and the other was to prevent the conflict "from escalating into a full-scale war between Russia and NATO."

The secretary general also confirmed that NATO would launch a major exercise at the end of the week, which would involve 90,000 personnel.