NATO sees indications that Russia is ready for a “all-out attack” on Ukraine

“All indications are that Russia is planning an all-out attack on Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told German ARD television on Saturday (19).

“We all agree that the risk of an attack is very high,” added Stoltenberg, who attended the Munich Security Conference.

NATO said it was moving its personnel from Kiev to Lviv in western Ukraine or to Brussels, where it is based, as a “security” measure.

Several Western countries have already done the same, moving their diplomats from Kiev to Lviv, near the Polish border.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday he was “convinced” that Russia would invade Ukraine.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO and the alliance does not have troops in that country, but since the late 1990s it has maintained two offices in the capital: a liaison office and an information and documentation center.

The role of the Liaison Office is to maintain dialogue between NATO and the Ukrainian government, while promoting the democratic transformation of Ukraine’s defense and security sector.

The Information and Documentation Center will inform the Ukrainian public about NATO and support Ukrainian institutions in their communications.

Stoltenberg stressed in recent weeks that the alliance would not send any Ukrainian forces to defend it from any Russian aggression.

But NATO members have sent military forces to neighboring countries that are members of the alliance.

Moreover, Stoltenberg said that member states would respond forcefully to any Russian attack in these territories, under the principle of collective defense.