MADRID: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO has been preparing to face off Russia since 2014, reports TASS.
“We actually prepared for this possibility for a long time,” he said at a news conference capping a second day of a NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday. “It’s not as if NATO suddenly woke up on the 24th of February and realised that Russia was dangerous.”
The NATO summit on Wednesday approved a new strategic concept that calls Russia a threat, dropping the country’s description as a partner. On February 24 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics.
The West retaliated to the Russian decision by imposing sweeping sanctions on the country. Also, Western countries started shipments of weapons and military equipment to Kiev, which by now are worth billions of dollars.
