Trust between the West and Russia has been destroyed, NATO chief says

The West has tried to physique bridges with Russia since the extremity of the Cold War but immoderate spot that was established successful caller years has been destroyed with Russia's penetration of Ukraine, NATO Director-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

"NATO strived for decades to make a better, much constructive narration with Russia," helium told CNBC's Hadley Gamble successful Brussels.

"After the extremity of the Cold War we established institutions [like the] NATO-Russia Council, erstwhile I was premier curate of Norway I retrieve that President Putin attended NATO summits ... truthful this was a antithetic clip erstwhile we worked for a amended relationship. Russia has walked distant from each of this," helium said.

Stoltenberg said a level of spot that had been established during a rapprochement betwixt Western nations and Russia successful caller decades had been destroyed by Moscow's determination to invade Ukraine.

"Even if the warring ends, we volition not instrumentality to immoderate benignant of normal, friendly, narration with Russia. Trust has been destroyed," helium said. "I deliberation the warfare has had long-lasting consequences for the narration with Russia."

Stoltenberg's comments travel arsenic the warfare successful Ukraine shows nary signs of slowing down implicit the wintertime period, contempt expectations among immoderate Western analysts that some Ukraine and Russia could look for a lull successful the warring to regroup earlier launching renewed counter-offensives successful the spring.

That doesn't look to beryllium the case, however, with warring aggravated successful eastbound Ukraine and rocket and drone strikes continuing to harass Ukrainian villages towns and cities successful the southbound and eastbound of the country.

Russia continues to lb Ukraine's vigor infrastructure excessively with devastating consequences for civilians; drone strikes connected Saturday near 1.5 cardinal radical successful the larboard metropolis of Odesa without power, for example.

Russia President Vladimir Putin signaled past week that helium was successful it for the long-haul, saying the alleged "special subject operation" could beryllium a "lengthy process." Russia insists that its purpose is to "liberate" regions (Donetsk and Luhansk successful eastbound Ukraine and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia successful the south) that it unilaterally and illegally "annexed" aft coercive referendums connected whether to articulation Russia.

Ukraine has besides showed nary signs of letting-up, peculiarly arsenic it tries to physique connected momentum that has allowed it to liberate chunks of Kharkiv successful the northeast and Kherson successful the southbound and to marque advances successful the eastbound — though the warfare there, peculiarly successful Donetsk successful eastbound Ukraine, is seen arsenic hellish for some sides with some forces dug into networks of trenches that present agelong crossed a devastated scenery reminiscent of World War I.

Stoltenberg insisted that the warfare could halt astatine immoderate infinitesimal if Russia chose to extremity hostilities.

"They [Russia] tin bash arsenic galore different European countries person done since the extremity of the Second World War, they tin take peace, take cooperation, take to spot their neighbors alternatively of ever being truthful assertive and threatening neighbors arsenic Russia has done again and again against Georgia, against Ukraine."