On September 7, Jens Stoltenberg spoke at a meeting of the European Parliament. The NATO secretary general commented on the absurdity of those in power who are not happy with the speed of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
"The starting point that the Russian army used to be the 2nd strongest in the world. And now the russian army is the second strongest in Ukraine. The full-scale invasion happened in February, we were told by most experts that Kyiv would fell within days, and Ukraine would fall within weeks. The Ukrainias proved them wrong by pushing back the russian invaders, liberating the north, around Kyiv, the east around Kharkiv, and then bigger territories in the south and around Kherson. And now they are gaining more ground, liberating more Ukrainian territory. And then the same experts that told us that Ukraine will fall withing weeks, ar complaining about the speed of the offensive. The reality is that Ukrainians are actually exceeding expectations again ang again. And we need to remember, what's our responsibility: our responsibility is to support them. We can advice them, but it has to be the Ukrainian commanders and soldiers on the ground, that make the difficuld decisions," Jens Stoltenberg.
The SG added that wars are unpredictable by nature, and instead of successes there will be not only victories but also defeats: "We need to be with Ukraine not only good times, but also bad times."
Stolntenberg cited the ideas of some politicians about the advisability of supporting our country only in case of victory.
"No. We need to support them win. And if they lose. We are there with Ukraine. Because to support Ukraine is not an option – it's a necessity to ensure that we preserve peace for our members, for our countries, and ensure that authoritarian regimes don't achieve what they want by violating international law and using military force," "etorted Jens Stoltenberg.
