Ukraine facing 'brutality' unseen in Europe since WW2, says NATO chief before Madrid summit
Ukraine is facing "brutality" unseen in Europe "since World War II" amid Russia's invasion, said Jens Stoltenberg on the opening day of a pivotal NATO summit in Madrid.
The comments come a day after a Russian attack on a crowded shopping centre at Kremenchuk in central Ukraine killed at least 18 people, according to a provisional toll. The strike was described as a "war crime" by G7 leaders.
NATO countries, which have already supplied billions of euros worth of weapons to Kyiv, will agree in Madrid "a comprehensive programme of assistance" to help Ukraine "enforce its right to self-defence", Stoltenberg said at a briefing alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
"It is extremely important that we are ready to continue to provide support because Ukraine is now facing a brutality that we have not seen in Europe since the Second World War," said Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary-general.
Sánchez said the summit would be an opportunity to send "a message of unity... to defend democracy and its values", defending "an international order based on rules".
The military alliance summit, which runs until Thursday, brings together more than 40 heads of state and government in the Spanish capital. It will be largely devoted to the war Russia launched against Ukraine on 24 February.
On Monday, Stoltenberg announced a massive increase in NATO's rapid reaction troops from 40,000 to 300,000, in a major reinforcement of the alliance's eastern flank.
Leaders of the Group of Seven major economies are travelling to Madrid from Bavaria in Germany, where they wrapped up a G7 summit pledging continued support for Ukraine "for as long as necessary".
Their final statement underlined their intent to impose “severe and immediate economic costs” on
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