Mikhail Mishustin, who leads Putin’s cabinet as his appointed prime minister, acknowledged on Monday that Russia had faced “a challenge to its stability”, and called for public loyalty.
Stoltenberg said NATO was monitoring the situation in Belarus and, again, condemned Moscow’s announcement to deploy nuclear weapons there.
“We don’t see any indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons but NATO remains vigilant,” he said, adding NATO’s deterrence was strong enough to keep its people safe in a “more dangerous world”.
At the same time, Stoltenberg assured Kyiv of NATO’s continued support.
“If Russia thinks it can intimidate us from supporting Ukraine, it will fail,” he said. “We stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Stoltenberg was in Lithuania to attend an exercise that will test the swift reinforcing of the German-led NATO battlegroup in the country to the size of a brigade, a military unit comprising up to 5,000 troops, a scenario to be enacted in case of heightened tensions or a conflict with Russia.
He described the drills as a clear message that NATO was ready to defend every inch of allied territory.
Source: CNA
