NATO hasn't said that the war in Ukraine can't end before Russia is destroyed

What's the claim? 

Social media users have shared a fake quote that suggests NATO does not want the war between Russia and Ukraine to end before Russia is destroyed. 

"No negotiations, no ceasefire, no peace talks or deal. The war will continue until Putin is defeated and Russia is destroyed' - NATO," reads the caption of a TikTok video featuring an image of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that has been viewed more than 213,000 times. 

Similar posts were shared on X (formerly known as Twitter). Here, one post was viewed more than 385,000 times. 

However, NATO has never made the statement claimed by the posts. On the contrary, NATO has on numerous occasions urged Russia to end the war immediately. 

In fact

The statement attributed to NATO is inauthentic, Tom Peyre-Costa, a NATO Press Officer told Logically Facts. 

"NATO did not make such a statement," Peyre-Costa said. 

Logically Facts also could not find the alleged statement on NATO's official website, nor did we find any reporting on it by any reputable news outlet, despite the Ukraine war being covered closely by media organizations worldwide. 

The statement would also seem to contradict other statements made by NATO regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. 

On July 9-11, 2024, heads of state and governments of NATO member countries gathered in Washington, D.C., for the latest NATO summit. Here, they issued the Washington Summit Declaration, which says that "Russia must immediately stop this war and completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its forces from Ukraine in line with UN General Assembly resolutions."

The declaration also said that "NATO does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia. We remain willing to maintain channels of communication with Moscow to mitigate risk and prevent escalation."

From the beginning of the war, NATO member countries have decided not to deploy combat troops to Ukraine in order not to escalate the conflict.

At the end of May 2024, NATO countries did allow Ukraine to use their weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

Around the same time, however, Stoltenberg told the press that "We all want to stop this war," but that NATO countries must prepare for a long war. "Russia must understand that it cannot wait us out," the Secretary General said.

The verdict

NATO denies making the statement claimed in social media posts. We could find no trace of the statement on NATO's website or in reporting by reputable sources. The statement contradicts NATO's position on the Ukraine-Russia war. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.