Yuri Kobzar18:18, 04.10.24
The first meeting between Stoltenberg and Zelensky took place in June 2019.
At the beginning of his presidency, Volodymyr Zelensky was completely inexperienced in politics, which is why he was underestimated. In particular, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted this in an interview for the Financial Times .
Stoltenberg and Zelenskyy first met in June 2019, just weeks after his election. “I liked him, but I didn’t imagine he would become a military leader. He was inexperienced. He asked the most basic questions. I underestimated him completely,” the former NATO secretary general recalls.
When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, the occupiers were close to capturing the Ukrainian president, Stoltenberg is convinced.
“It was a coin toss. If Kyiv had fallen and they had taken Zelensky, which they were very close to, then the whole war would have been completely different,” says the former secretary general.
Stoltenberg also recalls a “difficult” telephone conversation with Zelensky in the first days of the full-scale war.
“A significant part of the conversation was about a no-fly zone. He wanted a no-fly zone. And I couldn’t give him a no-fly zone. The reality is that from the very beginning I formulated NATO’s approach: support Ukraine, but not be part of the conflict,” he said.
(C)UNIAN 2024
“The reality is that from the very beginning I formulated NATO’s approach: support Ukraine, but not be part of the conflict,” he said.”
And he feels no shame for that disgraceful statement. What a rotten waste of space. A pussy cat could replace this pile of crud and do better.
Let’s hope that Rutte has the necessary integrity and backbone.
I agree Scradgel. No remorse for the countless lives caused by his decisions and those of the others including the so called super powers.
Rutte already fucked up, stating he won’t mess with RuSSia.
That is a very bad sign.
Nothing should ever be ruled out; it only encourages the rat nazi.
” NATO’s approach: support Ukraine, but not be part of the conflict,” was USA in NATO approach, depsite paying just 16% of NATO budget, NATO from start has a USA commander and chief not a european one which pays 68% and the reason is obvious: like George Kennan said:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/43812.George_F_Kennan
“Were the Soviet Union/Russia to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy.”
That’s why all the scaremongering from USA about escalation and socalled russia’s nukes, same after Cold War when Berlin Wall fell the Europeans asked USA angry: WTF where are all those 10.000’s tanks in east-germany? There were just a few.