Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg vowed that the US-led alliance would stand with Kyiv “for as long as it takes” in its defence against Russian aggression, during his first trip to Ukraine since the war began 14 months ago.
Stoltenberg’s visit comes at a crucial time in the conflict as Kyiv pleads for more western weaponry to push on with a spring counter-offensive. Ukraine has also stepped up its demands for Nato to offer concrete security guarantees and a tangible pathway to join the alliance, despite reluctance from Washington to do so.
Nato has long stressed that it is not a party to the war, in contrast to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s claims that the conflict is part of a wider confrontation between Moscow and the west.