1st LD Writethru-Roundup: NATO supports peace efforts amid "critical" Ukraine situation

Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday NATO supports peace efforts over the Ukraine crisis.

Stoltenberg made the remarks in a keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), which opened on Friday in the southern German city of Munich.

The NATO chief said the efforts by German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis were "important and urgent."

Hollande and Merkel made the trip to Kiev in a new attempt to resolve peacefully the Ukrainian crisis amid escalating conflict between government troops and pro-independence forces in Ukraine, which has killed more than 5,300 people since April 2014. The fighting in the eastern regions of Ukraine has intensified over the past two weeks.

Stoltenberg said there was no contradiction between defense and dialogue, adding NATO did not seek confrontation with Russia.

"A strong NATO is essential if we are to engage Russia with confidence. A constructive NATO-Russia relationship would benefit the Euro-Atlantic community," he said.

He stressed NATO strongly supports Ukraine in political, military as well as practical ways.

"NATO doesn't possess weapons so it's up to each individual NATO ally to decide what kind of support, what kind of equipment they provide," Stoltenberg said in reference to the question of arming Ukrainian government forces.

A number of European defense ministers spoke out against such action during the conference.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said, "More weapons in this area will not bring us closer to a solution." Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the Netherlands will insist on non-lethal support to Ukraine. "Political dialogue is the only way out of the crisis," she said.

The NATO chief also reaffirmed the alliance's collective defense to keep NATO members and its allies strong.

He added that the decline of European defense spending, after a further decline of about 3 percent last year, was "simply not sustainable."

"Last year was a turning point for European security and for the global order," Stoltenberg said, adding that the conflict in Ukraine is deepening and North Africa and the Middle East are also in turmoil.

The ongoing MSC -- which ends on Feb. 8 -- will also discuss the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, the global refugee crisis as well as the fight against terrorism. Endit