Stoltenberg on attacks on civilians:

Updated less than 10 minutes ago

–

– Russia shows an unbearable brutality, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg when he commented on the pictures of civilians killed in Bocha and elsewhere in Ukraine.

BACKGROUND: See the pictures from Butsja (NOTE: Strong pictures)

In the coming weeks, NATO expects Russia to continue attacks in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, according to Stoltenberg.

Want agriculture

He added that Ukraine’s intense opposition has forced Russia to change its war plans.

But Russia has not given up its ambitions in Ukraine, according to Stoltenberg.

“We expect that Russia will try to take control of the entire Donbass, and create an agricultural bridge to the occupied territories of Crimea,” he added.

Stoltenberg said that targeted attacks and killings of civilians are war crimes, and that everyone responsible for atrocities must be held accountable for this.

NATO foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday and Thursday – according to Stoltenberg, they will consider what more NATO can do in the conflict.

But he maintains that it is still completely out of the question that NATO will engage directly on the Ukrainian side in the war:

– We will not send troops to Ukraine, and we will not send planes to enforce Ukrainian airspace. We have a responsibility to prevent war between NATO and Russia, Stoltenberg said.

Support Ukraine

He added that NATO supports investigations under the auspices of the UN and the International Criminal Court.

– This is President Putin’s war, he is responsible for the atrocities, for the loss of life and the suffering we see in Ukraine. Our responsibility is to support Ukraine, we have done so for many years – so the defense in Ukraine is in a completely different condition now than they were when Russia attacked Crimea in 2014, Stoltenberg pointed out when asked if NATO should do more to support Ukraine .

– So we are on the right side of history when it comes to Ukraine. But we also have another responsibility, and that is to prevent an upscaling. If this becomes a full-scale war between the nuclear power Russia and NATO, there will only be even more death and suffering. It is a reality we must face, says Stoltenberg.

Awaiting new offensive

Stoltenberg says that Russia’s war in Ukraine is now entering a new phase. He justifies this with the fact that President Putin has not managed to achieve the goal of taking control of the capital Kyiv within a few days.

– Now the war has lasted for many weeks, without them being able to take Kyiv. The forces are now being withdrawn, to Belarus and to Russia. They have lost many soldiers. We now expect that Russia will regroup, be provided with new weapons and ammunition, and with fuel and food supplies. Then we can expect one with a concentrated Russian offensive against Donbass, Stoltenberg said.

He predicted that this could take a few weeks – and that the Russian forces would then move towards the areas where Ukraine has concentrated a larger part of its armed forces.

– Then we are afraid that we will see a major Russian offensive against Donbass. It is important that NATO gives Ukraine all possible support during this period, so that they can also re-supply their forces, Stoltenberg added.

–