NATO chief defends Ukraine's defence, exports of long-range missiles

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg defended Ukraine's right to defend itself and welcomed French and British shipments of long-range weapons to Ukraine, which to date Germany has not provided.

It is important to remember what is happening with Russia's war against Ukraine, the NATO chief said. Ukraine's right to defend itself is enshrined in the United Nations Charter, Stoltenberg said on Monday on the sidelines of a ceremony to welcome Sweden into NATO.

NATO states have the right to help Ukraine protect its right to self-defence and continued military support for Ukraine is the only way to make clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will not achieve his goals on the battlefield, Stoltenberg told Deutschlandfunk radio.

Stoltenberg rejected comments on the weekend from Pope Francis, who told a Swiss public broadcaster that the "strongest actor was the one that "thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates."

Giving up would not mean peace for Ukraine, the NATO chief said, but Russian occupation. The aim of negotiations must be a solution that preserves Ukraine as a sovereign, independent country.

It must be made clear to Putin that it is not worth breaking international law and conquering other countries.

Stoltenberg welcomed the fact that several allies were already supplying Ukraine with far-reaching weapons systems. He cited the Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles by the United Kingdom and France as examples.

Germany has to date not supplied its long-range Taurus cruise missiles, although there is a major debate over sending the high-tech weapons.