Western Europe must keep sending billions in aid to Ukraine even if it comes at the expense of health services and education provision to citizens, former NATO Secretary General and current Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, has said.
Stoltenberg, who led the military bloc from 2014 to 2024 and oversaw the deterioration of the Ukraine crisis into a full-scale conflict in 2022, addressed the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday. His remarks echoed previous calls by his successor, Mark Rutte, to cut social spending in order to further aid Kiev.
”I know that one additional billion to Ukraine or one billion extra to national defense is one billion less to other good purposes like health, education and infrastructure. But we must remember that the highest cost is to let Putin win,” he said.