NATO Chief Predicts Ukraine War Could Last Years – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Wednesday that despite Russian troops being redeployed to eastern Ukraine, there is no indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin has changed his plans to take control of Ukraine and that the war could last many years.
During a short press briefing before attending a meeting of foreign ministers of NATO allies in Brussels this week, Stoltenberg said that there was “no indication” the Kremlin has adapted its aim to take control of Kyiv.
“We have seen no indication that President Putin has changed his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine and also to rewrite the international order, so we need to be prepared for the long haul,” he said, adding that it would be “realistic” to expect the war to continue for several more months or years.
“Age of Engagement With Russia is Over”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also said on Wednesday that, regardless of what happens in Ukraine, the “age of engagement with Russia is over.”
Truss, a member of Britain’s Conservative government, made the comment during a dinner with other NATO foreign ministers in Brussels according to the British Foreign Office.
Truss also told her NATO colleagues that the “NATO-Russia Founding Act is dead and it is time to cast off an outdated approach to handling Russia.”
Assuming NATO allies agree with Truss, it would bring to an end an agreement signed in 1997 that says Russia and NATO countries do not consider themselves adversaries. Truss also called on her NATO counterparts to “rethink” their support for other countries “caught in the web of Russian influence,” including Sweden, Finland, Georgia, and Moldova.
Whether or not the war in Ukraine last years, hostility between the West and Russia may last significantly longer.
Is Russia Still Planning a May 9 Withdrawal?
In late March, Ukraine officials said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had already decided to end the war in Ukraine on May 9 – the day of the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow that celebrates the day that Nazi Germany surrendered and brought World War Two to an end.
In a daily Facebook update, the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that intelligence suggested Russia had already decided when to bring the conflict to an end.
“According to the available information, among the personnel of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, propaganda work is constantly being carried out, which imposes the idea that the war must be completed before the 9th of May, 2022,” the post reads.
If Russia were to end the war on May 9, it would contribute to the Russian president’s propaganda campaign that alleged neo-Nazi influence over the Ukrainian government and society. But if NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is to believe, this plan may have been scrapped.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
