Peace cannot mean freezing conflict, says Stoltenberg

Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary of NATO, has warned against premature peace talks between Ukraine and Russia suggesting that it would leave Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops vulnerable to a deal dictated by Russia.

“We all want this war to end. But for peace to be sustainable, it must be just. Peace cannot mean freezing the conflict and accepting a deal dictated by Russia,” he told German newspaper Welt on Sunday.

He added that “only Ukraine alone can define the acceptable conditions” for peace.

“We need to make sure that when this war ends, there are credible agreements for Ukraine’s security so that Russia cannot rearm and attack again and the cycle of Russian aggression is broken,” Mr Stoltenberg said.