Stop war immediately: NATO chief tells Putin

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to “immediately” stop the war in Ukraine, adding that Russia’s efforts to undermine the alliance had failed.

“President Putin must stop this war immediately [and] engage in diplomacy in good faith,” Stoltenberg said at an extraordinary meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium.

At the same time, he said the military alliance had agreed to double down on its support for Ukraine, providing further military supplies, financial help and humanitarian aid, CNBC reports.

Stoltenberg added that member states would expand their defenses across land, air, sea and space in response to the “new reality for our security,” applauding recent finance commitments from Germany and Denmark.

“President Putin’s aim was to undermine NATO. What he’s done is to strengthen NATO … He’s getting more NATO on its borders,” he said.