TOKYO, February 1. /TASS/. Arms shipments to Ukraine may create preconditions for peaceful settlement of the conflict in the future, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is currently on a visit to Japan, claimed in an interview for Nikkei Wednesday.

According to the Secretary General, it is necessary "to provide military support" for Kiev in order to achieve a "negotiated, peaceful solution" with preservation of Ukraine as a "sovereign independent nation."

"Weapons delivered today can create the conditions for a peaceful settlement tomorrow," Stoltenberg said.

He also opined that NATO "needs to be prepared for the long haul" in regards to the conflict in Ukraine, because the alliance sees no signs that Russia "is preparing for peace." In this context, the Secretary General claimed that NATO must keep supporting Ukraine after providing "an unprecedented level of support." He believes that "this support is making a difference on the battleground every day."

In response to Moscow’s decision to begin a special military operation in Ukraine, the West started to gradually impose numerous and wide-scale sanctions on Russia and commenced arms shipments to Ukraine worth tens of billions of dollars. The Russian side has repeatedly said that the arms shipments will only prolong and escalate the conflict. According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, shipping tanks to Kiev will not change the situation in its favor and will only take Western states to a new level of standoff with Russia.