The Russian president Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin there are no immediate plans for peace in Ukraine and therefore the West should prepare for a long time to provide assistance to Kiev, warned the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.

"President Putin is not planning peace, he is planning more war," Stoltenberg said in an interview with the Guardian.

He stated that Russia is increasing military industrial production and is trying to "reach out to authoritarian regimes, like Iran or North Korea and others, in an effort to acquire more weapons."

The fierce clashes currently taking place around Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, show that Russia is ready "only to throw in thousands and thousands of troops and make a lot of sacrifices for minimal gains," NATO's secretary general said.

For this reason, according to him, the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany and other Western countries must be ready to support Ukraine with weapons, ammunition and spare parts for a long time to come.