Jens Stoltenberg made the remark at the signing of a third joint declaration on NATO-EU cooperation, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The European Council President Charles Michel and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, alongside Stoltenberg, signed the document at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday.
'Putin failed to divide us'
The NATO chief told reporters afterwards: “We are determined to take the partnership between NATO and the EU to the next level.”
Looking back on his meeting with Michel and von der Leyen in February 2022, just after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, Stoltenberg stated: “President Putin wanted to take Ukraine in a few days and to divide us. On both counts he has clearly failed.”
The NATO chief warned: “The regime in Moscow wants a different Europe. It wants to control its neighbours. And it sees democracy and freedom as a threat.”
He urged: “So we must continue to strengthen the vital transatlantic bond in NATO. We must continue to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the European Union. And we must further strengthen our support to Ukraine.”
'We will deepen our excellent cooperation'
Meanwhile, EU’s von der Leyen stated: “Since the start of Russia's war on Ukraine, our EU-NATO cooperation has only grown stronger.”
She added: “Today with the new Joint Declaration we are bringing our partnership to the next level. We will deepen our excellent cooperation and expand it to new areas.”
Von der Leyen cautioned: “The Russian threat is the most immediate, but not the only one. We witness China’s increasing attempts to reshape the global order to its benefits.”
She stressed: “So we must bolster our own resilience.”
'Putin's war on Ukraine has strengthened both EU and NATO'
The EU's Michel stated that Putin’s war against Ukraine had strengthened both the EU and NATO and brought them “closer together,” Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported.
The EU Council president said in a tweet that Putin “wanted less NATO but he has achieved the opposite”.
Tuesday is day 321 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, consilium.europa.eu, nato.int, The Guardian