THE HAGUE, Netherlands — NATO's chief said Tuesday that the power of Russia's military shouldn't be underestimated following the weekend mutiny against it by Wagner Group mercenaries, and said the alliance has increased its readiness to confront Russia in recent days.
Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance may decide to further boost its strength and readiness to face Russia and its ally Belarus when NATO leaders meet in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on July 11-12.
”So, no misunderstanding and no room for misunderstanding in Moscow or Minsk about our ability to defend our allies against any potential threat,” Stoltenberg said.
At a meeting in The Hague of eight NATO leaders, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that neighboring countries would face a heightened danger if the Wagner Group deploys its “serial killers” in Belarus.
Stoltenberg said it was still early to draw any conclusions about what Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and some of his forces might do or whether they all might end up in Belarus.
The leaders agreed that, given the short-lived revolt by Wagner fighters in Russia over the weekend, that the allies should continue to bolster their forces along NATO's eastern flank to discourage Russian President Vladimir Putin from attempting to widen his war.
NATO responded to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 by deploying multinational battlegroups in Slovakia, Hungary,…
