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The former secretary general of NATO says he doesn’t think allies will be pulled further into the conflict in the Middle East, but he’s concerned the ongoing war with Iran will benefit Russia’s economy and take the world’s attention away from the invasion of Ukraine.
“NATO has never played any important role in important Middle East conflicts,” Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview on CBC’s The House airing Saturday morning. “I think it’s important to prevent NATO [from becoming] involved in the conflict.”
Though he believes NATO allies will not become further entangled in the war, which began two weeks ago when Israel and the United States launched air attacks across Iran, Stoltenberg did express concern about the global impacts.
“We see that the economic consequences are significant. Increased energy prices, and that can lead to reduced global growth and increased inflation,” Stoltenberg told host Catherine Cullen.
Today, he’s Norway’s minister of finance.
“It’s a combination of the human suffering with the economic consequences which is making me, of course, concerned,” he said.
The Strait of Hormuz has been shut down for 10 days as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran continues to escalate, causing global unease about an oil crisis. Andrew Chang explains why for the U.S. — despite having the world’s most powerful navy — getting oil tanker traffic moving through the vital shipping route again is much harder than it may seem.
Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed there, and Israel has reported 12 deaths. The U.S. has lost at least 11 soldiers, while another eight have suffered severe injuries.
Meanwhile, Iran’s government is retaliating by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for the world’s oil. Oil prices have since risen as high as $100 US per barrel, prompting governments to tap into their emergency reserves.
Stoltenberg said that global economic impact, and recent actions by the U.S. to exempt Russian oil from sanctions for at least 30 days, worries him since it gives a boost to the Russian economy.
“Russia is a major oil producer, and there has also been all the announcements about reducing at least some of the sanctions on Russia, and that will help them further,” he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will do “everything it can” to help the global energy market. It should be noted, however, that Canada is the only G7 nation that doesn’t maintain a strategic reserve.
After the U.S. announced its exemption on Friday, Carney said Canada’s sanctions on Russian oil tankers would remain in place.
Stoltenberg also warned military equipment that Ukraine needs is being diverted to the Middle East to protect against Iranian attacks, which could give Russia better chances to strike Ukrainian territory.
Will NATO survive Trump’s presidency?
According to Stoltenberg, there are no guarantees NATO will survive U.S. President Donald Trump — who is quite public about his frustration with the alliance — but he still believes it will prevail.
“A strong NATO is good for Europe, it’s good for Canada, but it’s also good for the United States,” Stoltenberg said.
He highlighted that his country shares a border with Russia, which maintains an arsenal of nuclear weapons that could be fired at the United States. Because of that, Norway tracks Russian submarines or other threats and warns the U.S. if needed.
Commander of Brigade North of the Norwegian Army, Brig.-Gen Terje Bruoygard, left, speaks with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, right, as they view a demonstration this week in Norway. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
“We help the U.S. to get critical information for their own security,” Stoltenberg said.
“So the criticism that President Trump has expressed has primarily not been against NATO. It has been against the NATO allies not investing enough in [the alliance], and the good news is that has changed and is changing.”
NATO countries have pledged to spend five per cent of their gross domestic product on defence — 3.5 per cent on their militaries and an additional 1.5 per cent on defence infrastructure.
According to Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), meeting that target could add $63 billion to the federal deficit.