NATO leaders vow to keep supporting Ukraine

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - NATO leaders agreed to continue supporting Ukraine, as well as Georgia, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on their "democratic path," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.

Speaking at a news conference following the extraordinary meeting of NATO leaders, Stoltenberg called on Russia "to stop this senseless war."

He said that leaders agreed to continue supporting Ukraine despite Moscow's attempts to deter NATO and the EU from supporting its partners.

"The answer must be more support to countries like Georgia, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to help them succeed with the democratic reforms and pursue the path they have freely chosen," Stoltenberg stated.

He underlined that Russia "is the aggressor, Belarus is the enabler" in Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine, which he called a "terrible strategical mistake" that would cost Russia a high price.

He warned that NATO allies must also pay a price for the changes in the security situation "because we are in this for the long haul."

Stoltenberg also reminded that the security threat "goes beyond Ukraine" crisis since Russia is threatening Europe's entire security architecture.

He reassured that NATO took this risk seriously and that this is why it decided to deploy land, sea, and air elements of the NATO Response Force "for the first time in the collective defense" history.

On Thursday, NATO decided to activate its defense plans enabling it to deploy capabilities and forces more easily in NATO territory.

Russia's military intervention in Ukraine entered its second day on Friday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital Kyiv from several directions.

Putin had ordered the military intervention on Thursday, just days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy the neighboring country, but wanted to “demilitarize” and "denazify" Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to install a puppet government and said Ukrainians will defend their country against Russian aggression.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US, and its allies accused Russia of amassing nearly 150,000 troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations consistently rejected by Moscow.