Europe

Home page

Europe

Decision to arm Ukraine to be taken by member sates themselves - NATO chief

16 February 2015 08:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. A decision to supply arms to Ukraine will be taken by NATO member states themselves, NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, APA reports.

He said that NATO, as an organization, has no arms, so it should not cause a debate.

“The decision to arm Ukraine will be taken by NATO members themselves. By the way, arming a legitimate government is different from arming anti-government forces. The 28 member states have their own different weapons systems, they will decide whether or not to provide weapons to Ukraine,” he noted.

Mr. Stoltenberg said in an interview that NATO has documentary evidence of Russia’s military presence in Donbass.

“Our intelligence means provide documentary data of Russia’s military presence in eastern Ukraine. We see such information in the reports of independent sources and journalists. Moreover, NGOs provide information about Russian soldiers died in Ukraine”, he said.

Mr. Stoltenberg mentioned that OSCE also gives information about the military equipment in eastern Ukraine.

“It is hard to believe that armed groups independently use this military equipment. Obviously, Russian specialists are operating there and they provide assistance in using complex weapon systems”, Stoltenberg said.

According to the secretary general, the separatists cannot move forward without Russia’s significant support.

“This is the violation of the fundamental principles of international law. Russia should respect Ukraine's borders and its territorial integrity. However, it violates the international law by annexing Crimea and supporting militants,” the NATO chief completed.