The allied countries will continue to support Ukraine „as long as it is needed” and will not be deterred by „any simulacrum of a referendum,” NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Wednesday, according to Agerpres.

He had an intervention at the opening of the Romania – US Economic Forum: „From security to prosperity”.

„We will continue to support Ukraine as long as it takes, we will continue to support Ukraine in its righteous and heroic struggle for freedom, independence and the inalienable right to choose its own path. No simulacrum of referendum, no propaganda machine, no military presence, no irresponsible rhetoric will discourage our fight,” the official said.

Geoana added that „the war waged by Russia against Ukraine, which is innocent, is a war waged against our values, of a world governed by rules, not by the ‘law of the jungle'”.

„Not only our allied nations must be concerned about the dangerous precedent of this illegal and barbaric war, but the whole world. This is a test related to how the world of the future will look,” said the Deputy Secretary General of NATO.

According to Mircea Geoana, „the center of gravity of Europe is moving to the East”.

„Without a doubt, we can say that Romania and the entire Eastern Flank (…) are more strategically relevant than ever,” he said.

Agerpres