UPDATE - NATO chief says alliance plans to work 'even more closely' with Indo-Pacific partners

UPDATES WITH NEW REMARKS FROM NATO CHIEF; REVISES DECK

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The NATO secretary-general on Thursday said that the alliance plans to cooperate “even more closely” with Indo-Pacific partners.

"We ... plan to work even more closely with our Indo Pacific partners, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, including technology cyber and countering hybrid threats," Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Czech Republic’s capital Prague, where two-day NATO informal foreign ministers' meeting is taking place.

Touching on the situation on the ground in Ukraine, the NATO chief stated that Ukraine continues to fight "bravely" but the challenges they face are "greater and growing."

"Ukraine can still prevail, but only with continued robust support from NATO allies," he said.

Speaking about the agenda of the meeting, Stoltenberg said: "At our ministerial, the foreign ministerial meeting tomorrow, we will also discuss how to address instability in our southern neighborhood, including the continuing threat of terrorism."

- 'What happens in Asia matters for Europe'

At a conference, titled 75 Years of NATO: How to keep in on track, Stoltenberg spoke about the ties between Russia, North Korea, China and Iran and said: “What happens in Europe matters for Asia, what happens in Asia matters for Europe."

"Therefore, NATO will remain the regional alliance, North America and Europe, but we need to work with our global partners," he said, adding he welcomes the heads of state and government from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea who will be attending the upcoming NATO summit in July.

On Ukraine, he reiterated that 99% of the military support to Ukraine, comes from NATO allies, but said there is a need to increase support.

"We need to just continue to provide as much support as possible,” he said, adding it is critical not only for Ukrainians but also for “our own security.”

Also pointing out that some countries impose restrictions on Ukraine on the use of donated weapons, while some others do not, the NATO chief said these are national decisions.

He said that the time has come to reconsider some of the restrictions to “enable Ukrainians to really defend themselves."

Since the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Western allies have asked Ukraine to refrain from using their donated weapons to strike deep inside Russia.