UPDATE - 'More death, more suffering, more destruction' to come in Ukraine: NATO chief

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY NATO CHIEF; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The NATO chief warned on Friday that the Russia-Ukraine war might get worse in the coming days.

Speaking at a news conference following the extraordinary meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Jens Stoltenberg warned that “more death, more suffering, and more destruction” is yet to come in the Russia-Ukraine war.

He reiterated NATO’s calls on Russia “to stop this war immediately, withdraw all its forces from Ukraine without conditions and engage in genuine deployment diplomacy.”

Stoltenberg praised Ukrainians' bravery and said Russian President Vladimir Putin “completely underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian military.”

He also asserted that “NATO is not going to be part of the conflict with Russia in Ukraine,” explaining that NATO’s direct involvement would cause more suffering and more civilian casualties.

He reassured that NATO will “do whatever it takes to defend the alliance” and that it is “seriously considering significant increase” in troops on the eastern flank that includes Poland, the Baltic, and the Black Sea regions, which NATO defense ministers will discuss in detail at their meeting on March 16.

Stoltenberg stressed that “NATO's relationship with Russia has fundamentally changed for the long term” since the country launched the “worst military aggression in Europe for decades” and seeks to set a new norm in the world order.

He explained that the recent developments have led to a choice between “whether democracy or autocracy prevails, and ultimately what sort of world we want to live in.”

Stoltenberg also noted that he supports the International Criminal Court's investigation, stressing that Russian and Belarusian leaders must be held accountable if they committed war crimes.

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began on Feb. 24, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

Last week, NATO decided to activate its defense plans enabling it to deploy capabilities and forces more easily in the alliance territory.

According to UN figures, 249 civilians have been killed and 553 injured in Ukraine since the start of the war. Ukrainian authorities, however, put the death toll at over 2,000.