NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has noted that this decade, the military alliance in its Russia policy will focus on both deterring a conflict and maintaining open channels for dialogue, Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reports.
In a press conference on Monday, June 8, Stoltenberg outlined the NATO’s development until 2030.
The former Norwegian Prime Minister underlined that Russia was heavily modernizing its nuclear arsenals and «deploying now a new missile called SSC-8», a missile, which can reach European cities including new nuclear capabilities. Stoltenberg noted that NATO had responded to this not by mirroring what Russia is doing, but by making sure that the alliance has visible deterrence and defence.
The NATO Secretary-General voiced the belief that in Norway, it was possible to talk to the Russians and to actually make agreements with them because of NATO membership.
«We did that, Norway-Russia for many, many years on military issues, on energy, on border issues and many other issues, environment, fisheries, and that was not despite of NATO, but it was because of NATO. NATO provided a platform for us to work with Russia,» Stoltenberg explained according to Ukrinform.
