NATO will not reduce support for Ukraine, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Friday.
“Most wars end with negotiations,” Stoltenberg said, speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest, Romania, at the end of November.
“But what happens at the negotiating table depends on what happens on the battlefield. Therefore, the best way to increase the chances of a peaceful solution is to support Ukraine,” he added.
“So NATO will continue to stay with Ukraine for as long as it takes. We will not back down,” Stoltenberg said.
NATO has provided fuel, medical equipment, winter equipment and drone jammers, according to Stoltenberg.
He said decisions to send US-made Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine are “national decisions” for specific countries, when asked about Warsaw’s request that Germany send Patriot units to Ukraine rather than Poland. Germany’s offer to Poland came after a deadly missile attack on Polish territory near the Ukrainian border on November 15.
Stoltenberg said that in the past, with the advanced NASAMS air defense system, training was conducted in NATO allied countries by NATO personnel. However, no NATO personnel have conducted work inside Ukraine, as this would have meant that NATO was a party to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He added that sometimes end-user agreements and other agreements meant consultation with other allies was required, but ultimately the decision had to be made by national governments.