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EPA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nEurope must be prepared for a decade of Ukranian war, the outgoing secretary general of Nato has warned.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC, Jens Stoltenberg said the “paradox” of the war in Ukraine is the longer the western military alliance commits to fighting the war, the faster a resolution will be reached. <\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.<\/p>\n
Mr Stoltenberg, who ends his 10-year tenure as secretary general in October, urged European Nato members to boost their commitments amid fears that US funds could be slashed or even stopped if Donald Trump wins a second term as US president in November’s election. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Asked if Nato allies had to be prepared for the conflict in Ukraine going on for more than 10 years, Mr Stoltenberg said: “Yes.”<\/p>\n
He added: “But the main message is that the stronger the support for Ukraine and the longer we are willing to commit, the sooner this war can end. <\/p>\n
“The paradox is that now President Putin believes that he can wait us out. So therefore, the war continues.<\/p>\n
“When we communicate very clearly that we are here for long haul, that we have strong enduring support for Ukraine, then we have the conditions for a solution where Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent state.”<\/p>\n
It comes as Nato announced a command unit to coordinate support for Ukraine will be operational in Germany from September. <\/p>\n
“This will provide more predictability and accountability and support and it will also demonstrate our enduring commitment to support Ukraine,” Mr Stoltenberg said.<\/p>\n
“The time to stand up for freedom and democracy is now and the place is Ukraine.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Mr Stoltenberg’s comments come as Germany announced it was planning to nearly halve military aid for Ukraine <\/a>next year – from around \u00a36.7bn (\u20ac8bn; $8.7bn) to around \u00a33.4bn.<\/p>\n Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Ukraine’s financing was “secure for the foreseeable future” due to a G7 group of rich nations scheme to raise $50bn from interest on frozen Russian assets.<\/p>\n The planned aid cut comes amid fears in Ukraine and among its European allies that US funding could dry up during a potential second Trump White House.<\/p>\n This week former US President Trump chose JD Vance, one of the most isolationist members of the Republican Party, as his running mate.<\/p>\n The Ohio senator has previously said: “I don\u2019t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”<\/p>\n A vocal critic of US aid to Ukraine, he told this year\u2019s Munich Security Conference that Europe should wake up to the US having to \u201cpivot\u201d its focus to East Asia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mr Stoltenberg said he was confident that the US would remain in the alliance because “it’s in the US security interest to have a strong Nato”.<\/p>\n There is also a “strong bipartisan support for Nato in United States, both in the Congress, but also in the opinion polls”, he argued.<\/p>\n Asked whether a second Trump term could mean less funding for Nato, Mr Stoltenberg said: “The right thing to do regardless of what you think about the US commitment to Nato is to invest more in our defence.<\/p>\n “First of all, it increases the likelihood that the US will stay a strong ally.<\/p>\n “Second, if something really bad does happen then it is good we have stronger European and Canadian defence capabilities.”<\/p>\n Mr Stoltenberg said the ex-US president made “absolutely right and valid criticisms” of European allies for not spending enough on defence and relying too much on the US.<\/p>\n But “this has now changed”, he added. <\/p>\n Nato members of the military alliance pledged to spend at least 2% of the value of their economies – measured by GDP – on defence per year by 2024.<\/p>\n