Fact: NATO is not at war with Russia, and we do not seek confrontation with Russia. What NATO does is support Ukraine in its right to self-defence, as enshrined in the UN Charter. Over the past months, we have taken strictly defensive measures to increase the presence of NATO troops in the eastern part of the Alliance.
This ensures that there is no room for misunderstanding in Moscow about our readiness to protect and defend all Allies. Our core task is to keep our thirty nations safe. We have a responsibility to ensure the conflict does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine, because that would be even more devastating and more dangerous.