Norway: NATO's Stoltenberg accuses Russia of prolonging Syrian war

The NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg blamed Russia for the situation in Syria and Ukraine during his speech to the NATO's parliamentary assembly meeting in Stavanger, Monday. Stoltenberg stated that Russia should play a "constructive role" in the fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), which according to him, does not match with Russian support for the Syrian Government, branded as a "regime" by Stoltenberg. He added that Russian support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is only "prolonging the war in Syria." He also criticised Russia for the current situation in Ukraine, which "remains fragile," he said. Stoltenberg thinks that Russia "has a strong responsibility" for "support to the separatists in eastern Ukraine". Regarding the relationship between NATO and Russia, NATO's Secretary-General highlighted "strong defence" as a key in these relations, seeing it as "the basis for a constructive relationship" with Russia. But he underlined that the engagement with Russia does not mean "giving Russia a free hand".