Q&A following speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Maritime Academy, Odesa. The speech is part of the engagements of the two-day North Atlantic Council visit to Ukraine.
Transcript
[Audience Member] Sir. Being born in Luhansk, it’s a city that they used to reach occupied for now. I would like to ask, what’s the exit of this situation? You as more experienced politicians see it. What can you say about this? How we can deal with this situation? ‘Cause for five years, my parents are still living here, and I don’t see any movements, some changes. So, what is your exit from your point of view?
First of all, I’d like to say that we fully understand, and we stand in solidarity with Ukraine. Because of the aggressive actions of Russia against Ukraine, annexing Crimea, and destabilizing Eastern Ukraine, Luhansk. And we know that if we call on Russia to withdraw all their forces, to stop the destabilizing Luhansk and the rest of Eastern Ukraine, and the reason why we have stepped up and established a very close and strong partnership between Ukraine and NATO is exactly because of Russia’s aggressive actions against Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine. So when we provide strong political support, practical support, NATO allies provide training for Ukrainian forces, we help you with command, control, logistics, cyber. That’s exactly what we do to help you deal with the untenable and very difficult situation we see in Luhansk and in the rest of Eastern Ukraine. So we support you and try to deal with that. Second, I strongly believe that the only way to find sustainable and good solution to the crisis in Eastern Ukraine is a political solution. And therefore we strongly support the Minsk Agreements. We think that the Minsk Agreements still are the best battle for a solution. But they have to be fully implemented. And the problem with the Minsk Agreements is not any way the Agreements, but is the lack of implementation, meaning we need to continue to call for cease-fire, withdrawal of weapons, and full access for the international monitors to always see monitor so they can make sure that the agreement is implemented on the ground. Then having said all that, I understand that people living in Luhansk and people in Ukraine in general are frustrated because we have been talking about this for years. There are many years since the Minsk Agreements were signed. And I understand that you feel that this is taking too much time. If there’s any comfort, I can just tell you that sometimes when it seems very dark and very much I say when it looks like there is almost zero progress, suddenly there can be a new momentum and things can really start to change. It’s a very different situation. But you know, people growing up in Europe during the Cold War, they thought that the Cold War, that the division of Europe, was going to be there forever. And that the Berlin Wall was going to be there forever. And then in the question of months, the world changed. The Berlin Wall came down. The Cold War ended. And the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact was dissolved. So, in the question of few months, something happened that no one was able to predict. So, yes, I understand that you would like to see progress. I understand that you are impatient because there has been so little progress. But if we look at the history, it can seem as kind of very protracted conflict, and then suddenly we are able to create momentum where change happens.