NATO chief says 'every sign shows Russia planning full-scale attack'; open for peace talks

In a broadcast message with ARD on Saturday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that there’s every sign that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is planning a ‘full-scale' invasion of Ukraine. As he attended the annual Munich Security Conference, Stoltenberg expressed concerns about Moscow’s tremendous military build-up, while he also categorically rejected claims of troop drawdown on the frontier with Kyiv.

”No troops are being withdrawn, as Russia says, but new troops are being added,” asserted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg with the reporters.

He then emphasized that NATO remains committed to a political solution to the conflict. "We want to get Russia to change course and sit down with us," he said.

'These are dangerous days for Europe': NATO chief 

As tensions intensified in the highly contentious Donbas region, NATO relocated staff from Kyiv to western Ukraine and Brussels, broadcaster DW reported. NATO has maintained a Liaison Office and a NATO Information and Documentation Center since the late 1990s there. “These are dangerous days for Europe,” Stoltenberg told the Munich conference earlier yesterday. Russia, he stated, has relentlessly amassed troops in and around Ukraine in the biggest military build-up since the Cold War. 

NATO chief declared that despite the multi-front negotiations and diplomatic efforts to find a political solution, the risk for a conflict is real. “We have seen no sign of withdrawal or de-escalation so far,” said the NATO chief, adding that it would not be “too late” for Russia to change course and to step back from the brink, and halt preparation for ‘war’.

NATO had earlier sent written proposals to Moscow that outlined reducing the risks of military aggression and ensuring transparency of military activities along Ukraine’s border. It also included issues such as space and cyber threats, and arms control including nuclear weapons and missiles. Stoltenberg also invited Russia and all NATO allies to a series of meetings of the NATO-Russia Council. He informed that he had sent an invitation in a letter to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The NATO chief said that Moscow wants to deny sovereign countries the right to choose their own path and security arrangements. He then reaffirmed that two World Wars and the Cold War have taught us that there is no real security in Europe without a strong transatlantic bond.