NATO Secretary General: Ukraine needs weapons, not 'white flags'
(Baonghean.vn) - NATO Secretary General said: "If we want a negotiated, peaceful, long-term solution, the way to achieve that is to provide military support to Ukraine."
Russia's TASS news agency reported on March 11 that in an interview with Reuters, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed his disagreement with Pope Francis' recent statement. Mr. Stoltenberg said that Ukraine needs weapons, not white flags.
“If we want a negotiated, peaceful, lasting solution, the way to achieve that is to provide military support to Ukraine,” Mr. Stoltenberg said, adding that developments at the negotiating table were inextricably linked to sustainability on the battlefield.
Asked whether his response meant that mentioning the white flag was inappropriate at this time, Mr Stoltenberg said: "It is not the time to talk about Ukrainian surrender" and added that such a situation would be a "tragedy for the Ukrainian people" and would be "dangerous for all of us".
Earlier, on March 9, Pope Francis in an interview with Swiss radio RSI called for the start of a negotiation process on Ukraine with the participation of international mediators. According to the Pope, when someone sees that “they are defeated, that something is wrong, then one must show courage and start negotiations” to avoid the worst and avoid more deaths.
He used the phrase “white flag” in his speech, which many interpreted as a call for Kiev to surrender. Meanwhile, the Vatican insisted that the Pope said that negotiation “never means surrender, but courage.”
