UPDATE - NATO 'understands frustration' in Ukraine amid war with Russia

UPDATES WITH FULL INTERVIEW

By Merve Aydogan

ANTALYA (AA) - As the Ukraine-Russia war marks its 16th day, NATO stated that it "understands frustration" in Ukraine while noting that "an escalation beyond Ukraine's borders would actually just cause even more suffering, more death."

Speaking to Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday also commented on the enacting of a no-fly zone in Ukraine as he stressed that "implementing a no-fly zone in Ukraine would mean massive airstrikes against Russian air defense systems, leading to direct confrontation with Russia."

"We see a brutality, we see an absolutely unjustified attack on Ukraine, on civilians in Ukraine and this is horrific," said Stoltenberg and urged Russia's President Vladimir Putin to "end this war."

He also defined the current ongoing war as something that "we haven't seen in Europe since the second world war" and called on Russia to "withdraw all its forces and to engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts."

Citing the Alliance's support to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said the NATO members are providing both military and financial aid while also imposing "heavy sanctions on Russia."

"NATO stands united partly in imposing unprecedented costs on Russia through economic sanctions we haven't seen before," said the alliance chief.

In response to a question on the Alliance's position, Stoltenberg said: "NATO stands united partly in imposing unprecedented costs on Russia by imposing economic sanctions we have not seen before. And these sanctions are crippling the Russian economy."

Noting that NATO allies are also stepping up their support to Ukraine's armed forces, he stressed that NATO allies, including Turkiye, have trained the Ukrainian troops since 2014.

"The people of Ukraine are standing up against the brutal invasion by Russia on Ukraine," he added.

Despite the NATO members' humanitarian, financial and military support to Ukraine, the Kyiv administration voiced strong criticisms against the Alliance over not declaring a no-fly zone.

Commenting on the issue, Stoltenberg once more stressed that NATO has a "core responsibility to protect and defend all NATO allies, 30 nations and 1 billion citizens."

"And we do so by increasing presence in eastern part of the Alliance, we have actually done so since 2014, when Russia went into Ukraine and annexed Crimea and took control over parts of Donbas," he noted.

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's the Crimean Peninsula, a move widely viewed as illegal by the international community, including Turkiye and the UN.

"After the invasion, of course, NATO allies stepped up further with significantly increasing our military presence on the land, at sea and air with more ships, more planes and more troops," he said as Stoltenberg informed about "starting an assessment in NATO for more longer-term consequences on posture from the Arctic to the Mediterranean."

Stoltenberg also stressed that NATO is "focused on how can we prevent this war from getting even worse, expanding beyond Ukraine's borders, because that will lead to even more suffering, more civilian casualties, more death, more destruction."

"I understand the frustration in Ukraine, but also think that an escalation beyond Ukraine's borders would actually just cause even more suffering more death and therefore we will not engage in Ukraine war by sending NATO forces in the air," he said.

No-fly zones were enacted by NATO previously in Bosnia during 1993-1995, in Iraq until 2003 and over Libya in 2011 to protect civilians under the threat of attack in the country.

"You're absolutely correct that no-fly zones have been used before," Stoltenberg said while underscoring that one must "understand that Bosnia, Libya and Ukraine are very different situations."

"What we have also seen in previous occasions that to impose a no-fly zone is not only about declaring no-fly zone, but it's actually about being able to use military force to uphold and impulse a no-fly zone," he said.

Implementing a no-fly zone in Ukraine would mean that NATO would have to conduct massive airstrikes against not only Russian air defense systems but also in Belarus, Stoltenberg said.

"It means we have to be ready to directly confront Russian planes," he said, and added that such move would "most likely trigger a full-fledged war between Russia and NATO, and the result of that would be a suffering civilian casualties' destruction in a scale, which is even worse than what we see today in Ukraine."

He also commented on countries' support to Ukraine and Russia's response, saying that "we should not allow Russia to intimidate NATO allies."

Stoltenberg also commended Turkiye on facilitating diplomatic and political processes "that can lead to a peaceful discussion between Ukraine and Russia."

Citing the tripartite meeting held Thursday between Turkiye, Russia and Ukraine, Stoltenberg defined it as important even though it was "difficult."

The foreign ministers of Turkiye, Ukraine, and Russia met early Thursday with the aim of reaching a lasting peace as the Russia-Ukraine war has entered its third week.

The high-level tripartite meeting began at 11.20 a.m. local time (0820GMT) on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkiye and lasted for more than an hour.

NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg further hailed Turkiye's involvement in NATO, saying that it is a "highly valued" ally.

"Turkey contributes to our collective defense, to our shared security in many different ways," he said as he stated that the country plays "a key role in the fight against terrorism."

Stoltenberg stated that Turkiye's "strategic geographic location is important for the whole NATO."

Citing Turkiye's contributions to NATO missions and operations, the alliance chief noted that Turkiye "is really highly valued, very important NATO ally. And I called President Erdogan and congratulated Turkey on the 70th anniversary of NATO membership."

Turkiye joined the military alliance among 29 North American and European countries in 1952 boasts of having the second-largest army among member states after the US.

It attaches utmost importance to NATO's role in maintaining security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Formed in 1949, NATO's purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.