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Stoltenberg: The Russian elections confirm that the country has an authoritarian society

2024-03-18 22:55:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Stoltenberg: The Russian elections confirm that the country has an authoritarian

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the presidential elections in Russia were "neither free nor fair" and only confirmed that Russia "is an authoritarian society".

In an interview given to Radio Free Europe on March 18 in Tbilisi, Stoltenberg said that the elections that gave President Vladimir Putin a fifth term "were rigged, and without a doubt, without surprise." He also said that Moscow's efforts to hold elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine were a violation of international law.

The head of NATO said that Putin made an incorrect statement when he said during the victory speech that NATO troops are in Ukraine. NATO allies have provided training, but "are not planning any military presence on the ground." Stoltenberg reiterated that NATO continues to have an open-door policy for countries that want to join and denied that the alliance is "aggressively expanding to the east," which was one of the justifications Putin used to launch the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

States in Eastern Europe have been told that if they meet NATO standards and are democratic societies, membership in the alliance is open to them, he said.

"We respect if you don't want to join NATO. But of course we respect if you want to join NATO", said Stoltenberg adding that these countries cannot live "in a world where Moscow decides what its neighbors can and cannot do".

The NATO chief declined to say whether Ukraine will be considered for NATO membership during the alliance's summit in Washington in July, but he said he expects NATO to make "decisions that will allow Ukraine to be closer to NATO," including steps to ensure that Ukraine's military is "fully compliant" with NATO.

Asked whether Georgia's aspirations to join NATO would be advanced during the summit, Stoltenberg said he could not prejudge the outcome of the summit.

For the first time, Stoltenberg said that Georgia and Ukraine "have separate and independent responsibilities" when it comes to their NATO applications.

"These states are at different levels and on different paths," he said, hinting that Ukraine's application is more urgent because of the current war against Russian forces.

"I am not saying that Ukraine is ahead of Georgia in all areas. There are individual assessments, there are individual efforts to support Georgia and to support Ukraine, and they will be separate individual decisions," he said.

Stoltenberg, who has called on NATO members to provide Kiev with ammunition and necessary military equipment, also acknowledged that international support for the Ukrainian military has not remained at the same high level as it was at the beginning of war, noting that a large aid package has not yet been approved in the American Congress. However, he said that he still hopes that the US will agree to this package because it is also in the interest of Washington's security./ Rel