"We must be ready for a long path": Stoltenberg on the war in Ukraine

He said this in a comment to the Russian version of the BBC service.

"We have to be ready for a long path because, as you noticed, Russia has no intention of giving up its main goal - establishing control over Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.

He also noted that despite the successes of Ukraine, we should not hope that the war will end quickly, since Russian Federation has replenished the ranks of its military.

"Ukrainian troops have been conducting counteroffensive for several months, but we also know that Russia has mobilized and replenished ranks of the military, many of those mobilized are now undergoing training. All this indicates that they are preparing for the continuation of war and for a possible attempt of a new offensive," NATO Secretary General said.

He also emphasized once again that it is necessary to continue supporting Ukraine for the victory of our state. According to him, only military support of Ukraine can convince Russian Federation to sit down at the negotiating table.

"If we want a peace treaty to consolidate the position that Ukraine won as a sovereign, independent, democratic state of Europe, we must provide Ukraine with support. Including military support, because this is the only way to convince Russia to sit down at the negotiating table and recognize Ukraine as an independent state," Stoltenberg said.

He is also confident that this war will end at the negotiating table, but conditions on which they will take place "depend entirely on the balance of forces on the battlefield."

• On December 30, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Germany and other alliance countries to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine.