Stoltenberg talks about "difficult conversation" with Zelenskyy after full-scale war
Unfortunately, our partners did not provide Ukraine with enough weapons when it was needed. And the supply of weapons was slow. Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who left office on October 1, regrets this.
Stoltenberg told the Financial Times about this. He recalled the first conversation with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and noted that it was "difficult" for him.
The fact is that "most of the conversation was devoted to the no-fly zone." This means closing the airspace to any flights – this would make it impossible for the Russian invaders to advance quickly across Ukrainian soil.
"He wanted a no-fly zone. And I could not give him that," Stoltenberg recalled. However, he still considers this decision to be the right one, although he notes that this refusal made his first conversation with Zelenskyy so difficult.
Stoltenberg also recalled his first meeting with Zelenskyy. It took place back in 2019, and the NATO Secretary General liked the Ukrainian.
"But I did not realize that he would become a military leader. He was inexperienced, asking the simplest questions. I completely underestimated him," Stoltenberg said.
Interestingly, the former NATO secretary general says that the refusal to close Ukraine's airspace was correct. At the same time, he personally believes that crossing the so-called "red lines" in the Russian-Ukrainian war is not only possible but necessary.
"Personally, I insisted on crossing all these 'red lines' that Putin set up. And we crossed many of them, and he did nothing in response. If Putin wants to escalate with the use of weapons of mass destruction, he can create all the necessary conditions for this. But so far, Putin's threats have turned out to be a bluff," Stoltenberg explained.
As reported by OBOZ.UA, the last time the Russian dictator began to threaten the potential use of nuclear weapons and actively draw new "red lines" was when discussions in the West began on the possibility of allowing Ukraine to use Western long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia.
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Jens Stoltenberg
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