After meeting with Joe Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Steltenberg said that the West must be ready for "a war by attrition" to end Ukraine's "long-term" situation.
Jens Stoltenberg, who is in Washington to prepare for the NATO summit in Madrid on June 28-30, has indicated that he plans to get results before the event. While NATO reiterated its opposition to Russia and stressed that it does not want to be in direct confrontation, its secretary general said that the Western military alliance had "a responsibility" for supporting Ukraine.
"Most wars, and this war surely, are ended through negotiations. But what we know is that the outcome of the negotiations is directly tied to the situation on ground. He added that the field and on the battlefield are interrelated.
Jens Stoltenberg answered a question about possible Western pressure on Ukraine to conceive cessions of territory to reach a peace deal: "It's not up to us to decide or form an opinion about what Ukraine should accept."
Jens Stoltenberg declined to comment on discussions in NATO regarding maritime corridors that would allow grain from Ukraine to be exported. He said that President Putin should end the war to get more grain out, and lower food prices. However, he stated that he supports the efforts of NATO allied countries to coordinate with the UN to create new land- or sea export routes.
Since the invasion, Russian troops have seized control of areas in southern Ukraine, including most of Kherson, Zaporizhia, and gradually moved into the Donbass, taking Mariupol (southeast).
