Russia has lost Ukraine forever as a result of the war and will not be able to achieve its military goals despite the massive efforts of its military after invading Ukraine last February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.

“The whole purpose of this invasion was to prevent Ukraine from moving towards NATO and the European Union. Now Ukraine is closer than ever to NATO and the European Union. This is a big strategic defeat for Russia,” said Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with the German press agency, writes Agerpres.

“President Putin has lost Ukraine forever,” a high-ranking official of the North Atlantic Alliance emphasized, referring to the fact that Russia has considered Ukraine as part of its sphere of influence for decades.

The former Prime Minister of Norway expressed his belief that Ukraine will finally achieve its goal of joining NATO.

On the other hand, Stoltenberg noted that Russia is already paying a high price for the war waged against a neighboring country. “Russia lost hundreds of planes, thousands of tanks and 300,000 soldiers. The Russian economy weakened. Russia is more isolated politically. Inflation is high, the standard of living is low,” he said.

However, Jens Stoltenberg warned that the war would continue, adding that there was no sign that Putin would change his attitude, even after his expected re-election in the upcoming Russian presidential election on March 17, 2024.

At the same time, Ukraine “has shown that it can defend itself, it can fight back at any time, especially when it receives weapons from Germany and many other NATO allies.”