The NATO chief expresses confidence that Finland’s and Sweden’s accessions will be ratified
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN that he is “confident” that both Hungary and Turkey will ratify Finland and Sweden’s accession to the alliance, after Hungary’s announcement that it would support membership for both countries next year.
“I can’t say exactly when,” he said, but added on “CNN This Morning” that it was “one of the fastest accession processes ever in history.”
“President Putin is trying to weaponize winter, and through deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure, he is trying to deprive Ukrainians of gas, hearing, water, and this just shows once again the brutality of this war and the importance of President Putin, Russia, ending this war,” said Stoltenberg, adding “the best way we can deal with the terrible scenes we see from Ukraine is to support Ukraine.”
He particularly praised the United States “for providing unprecedented support to Ukraine.”
Stoltenberg told CNN that it is important to support Ukraine, “because our own security interest is to ensure that President Putin does not win in Ukraine.”
When asked about comments from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley that there may be a window for negotiations to end the warreplied Stoltenberg, “what happens around the negotiating table depends on what happens on the battlefield.”