NATO commander Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that the alliance is ready to defend itself against any danger from “Moscow or Minsk,” after Belarus welcomed Wagner rebel leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into exile.
At a major conference in Lithuania next week, Stoltenberg said NATO would agree to enhance its defenses in order to safeguard all members, particularly those bordering Russia’s partner Belarus.
“It’s too early to make any final judgment about the consequences of the fact that Prigozhin has moved to Belarus and most likely also some of his forces will also be located to Belarus,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
“What is absolutely clear is that we have sent a clear message to Moscow and to Minsk that NATO is there to protect every ally and every inch of NATO territory,” he said after dinner with seven national leaders in The Hague.
“So no room for misunderstanding in Moscow or Minsk about our ability to defend allies against any potential threat, and that is regardless of what you think about the movement of the Wagner forces.”
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has warned about the dangers of Wagner fighters operating in Belarus.
“If Wagner deploys its serial killers in Belarus, all neighboring countries face even greater danger of instability,” he told the news conference.
Prigozhin, the mercenary boss, arrived in Belarus on Tuesday, following a spectacular weekend uprising by Wagner fighters that posed the greatest danger to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule.
Former Kremlin supporter and catering contractor Prigozhin created Russia’s most powerful private army and recruited thousands of inmates to fight in Ukraine.
Despite the weekend tumult, Stoltenberg added that the West “must not underestimate Russia.”
He stated that it was critical to continue assisting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and that NATO allies would work out a way for Kyiv to join the alliance.
The dinner’s host, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, dismissed Putin’s assertions that the West wanted Russians to kill one other.
“I refute what Putin suggested yesterday that we in the West want Russia to descend into domestic chaos — on the contrary, instability in Russia creates instability in Europe,” he said.
