The Secretary General announced his readiness to hold a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council.

NATO believes that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine / photo REUTERS

Jens Stoltenberg , Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, believes that the extension of military exercises between Russia and Belarus confirms the preparation of the Russian Federation for an invasion of Ukraine.

He spoke about this on the air of the  CBS channel .

“Last week, Russia effectively said it would back down, but is now moving more troops to the border with Ukraine,” he said.

Stoltenberg recalled that the military exercises of Belarus and Russia were supposed to end on February 20, but they were extended.

“All this fits into the picture that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine,” he said.

The Secretary General also announced his readiness to hold a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council.

“The most important thing is to prevent a new armed attack on Ukraine. Therefore, we support all the efforts of NATO allies to find a political solution,” he stressed.

Recall that the self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and the head of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin decided to continue  joint military exercises  “due to military activity near the borders and escalation in the Donbas.”

(c)UNIAN 2022