Stoltenberg: Russia Poses ‘Direct Threat’ to NATO Security

Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General of NATO said Wednesday, that Russia poses a “direct threat” to NATO security.

This statement came during a NATO leaders meeting in Madrid, which seeks to strengthen the alliance’s eastern wing in response to Russia's operation in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg added that NATO faces its greatest challenge since WW2 due to the war in Ukraine.

“We’ll state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security,” Stoltenberg said, according to AFP.

According to Stoltenberg, the meeting in Madrid was set to be “historic and transformative.”

The secretary-general of the alliance indicated that NATO will agree to deterrence to be able to deploy more combat formations and deploy more pre-existing equipment in Eastern Europe by next year, according to AP.

Regarding the alliance’s position on China, Stoltenberg pointed out that the Asian country is not “an adversary” to NATO, but it poses a “challenge to our values, our interest, and our security.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address a video conference at the summit later on Wednesday.

The leaders are also expected to publish the new strategic concept of NATO, which is a set of priorities and objectives, and the process is repeated once every decade.

In a sign of this shift, the leaders of partners Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand will attend a NATO summit for the first time, reflecting the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific region.