03:02 18-01-2026

Stoltenberg: West Must Talk to Russia on Ukraine Like Allies Do

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Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told Spiegel the West should hold direct talks with Russia on ending the Ukraine conflict and later revisit a new arms-control framework.

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Spiegel that the West should build dialogue with Russia on the Ukraine issue in the same way Western countries communicate with each other.

He said discussions on ending the conflict in Ukraine should be conducted in the usual allied format of direct talks. Stoltenberg also noted that sooner or later the sides will have to return to the issue of a new arms-control architecture. He recalled that even during the Cold War it was possible to agree on limiting nuclear arsenals, although the previous system of such arrangements, in his view, has already collapsed.

Stoltenberg also stressed that the West needs to talk to Russia as a neighbor.