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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said that the organization has activated its defence plans, however, there will be no deployment of troops inside Ukraine.
"Today, we activated NATO's defence plans that give our military commanders more authority to deploy forces when needed. No NATO troops inside Ukraine. We are increasing the presence of NATO troops in the eastern part of all the alliance on NATO territory," said Stoltenberg in a press briefing after an extraordinary meeting of the North Atlantic Council on Russia's unprovoked and "unjustified attack" on Ukraine. He said that over 100 jets and 120 allied ships have been sent to the Mediterranean region. "We have over 100 jets at high alert protecting our airspace and more than 120 allied ships at sea from north to the Mediterranean. We will do whatever is necessary to shield the alliance from aggression. NATO leaders to meet tomorrow to address the way forward," said NATO Secretary-General. Stoltenberg also said that democracy will always prevail over autocracy. Freedom will always prevail over oppression. He said that NATO stands in solidarity with Ukraine. "NATO allies are imposing severe costs on Russia for their reckless invasion of Ukraine. NATO allies in close coordination with EU and other partners all over the world are now imposing severe economic sanctions on Russia," said NATO chief. He also said that over the years NATO has been providing practical support, military support to Ukraine and helped them to build a much stronger, better equipped and better-trained force today than Ukraine had in 2014. "So, we continue to stand together condemning the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Our allies also stand together in sending a message that we will never accept the brutal violation of international order," said Stoltenberg. He also condemned Russia's military operation in Ukraine and called on Russia to immediately seize its military action and withdraw from Ukraine. "NATO condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the strongest terms. We call on Russia to immediately seize its military action & withdraw from Ukraine," said Stoltenberg. He said that deconfliction is extremely important. "There have been contacts between our military commanders and Russia. We will continue to reach out to them to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure deconfliction," he said. (ANI)
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