Stoltenberg recalls difficult call to Zelenskyy after Russia’s invasion
Pravda Ukraine
Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recalled how he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Source: European Pravda citing his interview with the Financial Times
Details: Stoltenberg recalls that he could not reach Zelenskyy for two days.
The former NATO secretary general said “that phone call was quite difficult” after they finally spoke.
Partly, Stoltenberg recalls, it was the fear that Zelenskyy would soon be “caught or killed”.
“But more than that, a large part of the conversation was about a no-fly zone. He [Zelenskyy – ed.] wanted a no-fly zone. And I wasn’t able to give him a no-fly zone,” he said.
Stoltenberg added that he did not regret his answer.
“The reality is that since the beginning I have formulated the Nato approach: support Ukraine, but not be part of the conflict,” he said.
Stoltenberg also recalled his first meeting with Zelenskyy in 2019 and admitted that he had underestimated him.
“I liked him, but I didn’t imagine him becoming a war leader. He was inexperienced. He was inexperienced. He was asking the most basic questions… I underestimated him, totally,” said the former NATO Secretary General.
Earlier, Stoltenberg had already admitted that the Alliance could have done more to prevent the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He also spoke about how the Russian side lied to NATO representatives before the full-scale invasion took place.
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