Thread by @jseldin

Happening now: @NATO SecGen @jensstoltenberg briefing before extraordinary Summit of NATO Heads of State

NEW: @NATO's @jensstoltenberg calls for beefed-up defense

"Major reinforcements to our security will require major investments in defense" he says. citing a "new sense of urgency bcs we cannot take peace for granted"

"There is a need to also address the long term consequences" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

"There is a need to reset our deterrence & defense...we wil do what is necessary to defend & protect all allies"

"#Russia has walked away from the @NATO-Russia Founding Act" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg "They have violated it again & again..."

"Any use of chemical weapons would totally change the nature of the conflict" in #Ukraine and "have far-reaching consequences" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

re #Russia-#Ukraine

"What we see in #Ukraine now is really painful. It is horrific" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

"We are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine" he says, adding NATO allies have trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops who are resisting/fighting back vs #Russia

"NATO membership is not on the agenda but support for #Ukraine is absolutely on top of our agenda" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

NEW-"#Russia must stop its nuclear saber rattlings. It is dangerous & it is irresponsible" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

"Nuclear war cannot be won & shud never be fought"

"Any use of nuclear weapons will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

#Russia-#Ukraine

"We are concerned" abt #Russia|n rhetoric on chemical/biological weapons & abt nuclear saber rattling, per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

"#Russia has used chemical weapons" he says, noting #Moscow's role in chem weapon use in #Syria, #Salisbury...

Potential #Russia|n use of chemical or biological weapons"may also have direct consequences for NATO allied countries" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

#Belarus "has been complicit to this invasion [of #Ukraine]...before the start" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

"Belarus is already heavily involved" he says "We call on Belarus to stop doing exactly that and not be used by #Russia to conduct this brutal war"

"NATO will not send troops into #Ukraine" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

"It is extremely important to prevent this conflict from becoming a full-fledged war" between NATO & #Russia

"NATO has plans in place to protect all allies" from nuclear threat, per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg "Let there be no doubt abt our readiness"

Again calls on #Russia to cool its nuclear rhetoric

NATO heads of state likely to discuss/approve "significant increase on the ground in the eastern part of the alliance for the long term" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

re: #Russia-#Ukraine

NATO deploying 4 new battle groups to #Bulgaria, #Hungary, #Romania, #Slovakia, per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

Brings the number of NATO battlegroups along its eastern flank to 8

"#China has not been able to condemn the invasion" of #Ukraine, per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

"We have also seen Chinese state authorities spreading some of the same lies" abt NATO, Ukraine, he says

Especially worrisome that #Beijing"joins #Russia in trying to deny European nations" from pursuing their own paths, applying to join NATO if they choose, per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

Hundreds of thousands of NATO troops are on heightened alert, 100,000 US troops now in #Europe, 40,000 troops under direct NATO command, per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

Calls this "a new normal" for NATO security, all a result of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine

"This is a total different force than 8 years ago" @NATO's @jensstoltenberg says of #Ukraine's military, praising its courage and "high morale"

"We are concerns bcs we see the rhetoric, we see the attempts by #Russia to create these pretexts" on chemical weapon use, per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg

Says chem weapon use "will have severe consequences in a way that is important to convey to Russia"