The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, stated today in Stockholm that "there is no immediate military threat" from Russia to the NATO countries, as the Kremlin accused the Western countries of wanting to escalate tensions in Ukraine.
"As long as we leave no room for misunderstandings or miscalculations in Moscow or in other capitals of countries that could potentially attack us, there is no military threat to NATO countries," Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Stockholm with the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristerson.
Asked about the possibility of Russia testing the commitment of NATO countries to defend any other member in the event of an attack under Article 5 of the Alliance Agreement, Stoltenberg replied that there is no immediate military threat against NATO countries.
"Therefore, we do not believe that our Article 5 will be put to the test," said the NATO Secretary General during a visit to Sweden, which joined NATO in April.
The Kremlin recently criticized NATO for launching a "new cycle of escalation" after the US decision to allow Ukraine to attack targets in Russia in defense of the city of Kharkiv.
On Thursday evening, France announced the transfer of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Kiev, while Russian authorities claim that France is "ready to participate directly in the conflict".
The Swedish Prime Minister said that Swedish fighter jets will participate in the Alliance's surveillance forces over the Baltic Sea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is visiting Paris, has again called on his Western allies to "do more" to help his country defend itself against Russian aggression.
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