Secretary General: Situation in Ukraine is critical, NATO supports peace efforts

[The Patriot]

The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said the efforts by Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis are ‘important and urgent’. Mr Stoltenberg opened the Munich Security Conference on Friday (6 February 2015) with a keynote speech together with German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger. The Secretary General said there was no contradiction between defence and dialogue: “A strong NATO is essential if we are to engage Russia with confidence. A constructive NATO-Russia relationship would benefit the Euro-Atlantic community. And the entire international order. But international rules must be respected – not rewritten. And certainly not violated.”

More...