Marta Hychko07:12, 15.10.24

The new Secretary General emphasized that the Alliance is not interested in capturing any part of any other country outside NATO territory.

Russian intimidation tactics will have no effect on the NATO alliance. The bloc will continue to provide strong support to Kyiv, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said during a speech at Clay Barracks, the American base where the headquarters of the new mission is located, which was named “NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine” (NSATU). informs  Reuters .

“The message (to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin – UNIAN) is that we will continue, we will do everything necessary to ensure that he does not get his way, that Ukraine wins,” Rutte said.

NSATU will gradually take over the coordination of Western military aid to Kyiv. The move is widely seen as an attempt to protect the aid mechanism from the possible return to the White House of NATO critic Donald Trump. At the same time, some diplomats admit that this may have a limited effect, given that the USA supplies Ukraine with most of its weapons and is also the dominant power in NATO.

The total strength of NSATU will be around 700, including military personnel based at NATO’s SHAPE military headquarters in Belgium and logistics centers in Poland and Romania.

In addition, the base in Wiesbaden houses the American unit responsible for long-range missiles, which Washington will temporarily station in Germany from 2026. During his first visit to Germany as head of NATO, Rutte welcomed the move but ran into threats and condemnation from Russia.

“We are NATO. We are a defensive alliance, we are not offensive. We are not interested in taking over any part of any other country outside NATO territory. As a democratic alliance, the strongest alliance in world history, serving 1 billion people, we ready to face any threat. We will never be intimidated by our opponents,” he said.

(C)UNIAN 2024