First, from Kyiv Independent / Yahoo!News:
"More weapons for Ukraine in 2014 could have prevented full-scale war, Stoltenberg says
NATO allies could have done more to arm Ukraine in 2014, potentially averting Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Politico published Oct. 9.
Stoltenberg stepped down as NATO Secretary General on Oct. 1 after serving in the role for 10 years. Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte now leads the alliance.
At the end of his term, Stoltenberg cited the insufficient response to Russian aggression in 2014 as his major regret.
"I continue to believe that if we had armed Ukraine more after 2014, we might have prevented Russia from invading — at least we would have increased the threshold for a full-scale invasion," he told Politico.
Stoltenberg pointed out that Russia's war in Ukraine did not begin with the 2022 invasion but with Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the Donbas war in 2014.
"I worked hard to try to convince NATO allies to do more, to provide more military support, more training," Stoltenberg said.
"Some allies did, but it was relatively limited, and that was very difficult for many years because the policy in NATO was that NATO should not provide lethal support to Ukraine."
A greater willingness and more coordinated effort from member nations to send military aid to Kyiv may have deterred Russia, Stoltenberg speculated
"If we had delivered a fraction of the weapons we have delivered after 2022, we may have actually prevented the war," he said.
Stoltenberg said there were "some parallels" to NATO's past red lines and the current restrictions some member states have placed on which weapons they will send Ukraine and how Ukraine can use them.
The debate over the use of Western long-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia reflects contemporary divisions among NATO allies as to how best to support Ukraine's defense.
"According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense, and the right to self-defense includes the right to strike legitimate military targets on the territory of the aggressor, Russia," Stoltenberg said."
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And in the same line, a more recent material in the New Voice of Ukraine:
"Stoltenberg: Timely aid might have prevented war in Ukraine
Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted Western aid to Ukraine was "too little and too late," saying stronger early support could have deterred Russia's full-scale invasion, The Sunday Times reported on Nov. 8.
"Ukraine demonstrates both the strength and the weakness of NATO," Stoltenberg said.
He noted that NATO allies since Russia's full-scale military invasion "provided unprecedented military support … without which Ukraine would most likely not have defended itself as it did."
On the other hand, the ex-NATO chief added, it must be recognized that Alliance support came too late and was too limited, because from 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea and invaded Donbas, until the full-scale invasion in February 2022, NATO allies provided almost no military support or it was too restricted. He also stated there was practically no lethal aid, as the Alliance feared it would push Moscow to invade Ukraine."But Russia invaded anyway," Stoltenberg stated.
He also believes Russia's military invasion of Ukraine could have been avoided.
"Had we provided more military support to Ukraine earlier, it could have prevented a full-scale invasion," the former NATO secretary general said.
Then, Stoltenberg pointed out, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would have concluded that attacking Ukraine was impossible because NATO allies had armed the country.
"But we didn't do that, and therefore it was much easier for Russia to invade," he added."
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Leonid Nevzlin commented in the Obozrevatel, 11.11.2025:
"And this is the absolute truth. The war crimes Putin and his accomplices are committing today are the result of the civilized world's insufficient response to the seizure of Crimea. Impunity breeds impunity. And, apparently, this lesson has still not been learned."
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