Jens Stoltenberg said NATO could have done more to prevent war in Ukraine.

“NATO could have done more to arm Ukraine to try to prevent a Russian invasion in 2022,” outgoing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview published on Saturday.

“Now we provide military equipment for war, and then we can provide military equipment to prevent war,” NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg told German weekly FAS.

Stoltenberg pointed to NATO’s reluctance to provide the weapons Kiev has requested ahead of a full-scale Russian invasion for fear of escalating tensions with Russia.

After the start of the war, Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, received weapons systems from its allies after initial hesitation.

Stoltenberg, the former prime minister of Norway, will step down in October from the position of NATO leader, which he has held since 2014. In June, it was announced that the next head of NATO will be former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Stoltenberg said in an interview that the end of the war in Ukraine will be achieved only through negotiations.

“To end this war, we will have to re-establish dialogue with Russia at some stage. But it must be based on Ukrainian strength,” he said.

Stoltenberg did not confirm that after leaving NATO, he will take over the post of president of the Munich Security Conference from German diplomat Christoph Heusgen. He told FAS that he has “many options” and will live in Oslo.