NATO chief says this is the 'most dangerous' moment in European security in a 'generation'

• Russia's military actions in Ukraine present a major threat to Europe, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned.
• "This is the most dangerous moment in European security for a generation," he said.

NATO's secretary general issued a grave warning on Tuesday as Europe braces for a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"This is the most dangerous moment in European security for a generation," Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into eastern Ukraine on Monday.

But, he said: "Europe and North America continue to stand strong together in NATO, united and committed to defend and protect each other."

Stoltenberg said thousands of troops have been deployed to Eastern Europe, and many units are in "combat formations."

"We urge Russia in the strongest possible terms to choose the path of diplomacy," Stoltenberg added.

Stoltenberg praised various economic sanctions imposed by a handful of NATO countries, including Germany's decision to halt the pivotal Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Later on Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced sanctions intended to "cut off Russia's government from Western financing."

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that US troops will not be sent into Ukraine to defend it against Russia, but the US has ramped up its military presence in NATO countries in the region as a show of support to the alliance.

Russia on Monday recognized separatist territories in eastern Ukraine as independent, and announced it was sending "peacekeepers" into the region. The White House on Tuesday said that Russia's actions this week amounted to the onset of an invasion.

"We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia's latest invasion into Ukraine," deputy national security advisor Jon Finer told CNN.

Since late 2021, Russia has gathered tens of thousands of troops along Ukraine's border. The Kremlin insisted it had no plans to invade, while making unacceptable demands for binding security guarantees from the West. This included insisting that NATO permanently ban Ukraine from joining the alliance. But NATO and the US have firmly rejected this demand.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and annexed Crimea in the process, and has since supported rebels in eastern Ukraine in a war that's claimed over 13,000 lives and displaced 1.5 million.