NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the principle of collective defense of the North Atlantic Alliance does not apply to Ukraine, but despite this, they continue to support Ukraine.
During the press conference, he specifically emphasized that NATO will not participate in the war with Russia on the Ukrainian side, if there is such a need.
"The principles of NATO's collective defense do not apply to Ukraine, but the Alliance supports this country," Stoltenberg said.
The principle of collective security is that if someone attacks a NATO member country, it is considered an attack on the entire Alliance. This principle is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
However, at this point in the entire history of NATO, this principle was applied only once - after the terrorist attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001.
Earlier, the EU also officially announced that they would not help Ukraine with troops in the event of an invasion by Russia.
"The European Union does not have a defense alliance with Ukraine, therefore, in the event of an escalation of the situation with the Russian Federation, Kyiv can only count on political, diplomatic and economic assistance from Brussels," said the Supreme Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, during a press conference following the meeting of the Council of Ministers EC on defense issues
