RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that the organization would support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” in its war against Russia.  

Stoltenberg, who this week made his first visit to Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion, told NBC News that it would “be a tragedy” if Putin's forces were to win. 

“It will also be dangerous for us, because then the message to all totalitarian leaders will be that when they use military force they get what they want,” said Stoltenberg, who has been instrumental in building NATO support for Ukraine. “It will make the world more dangerous and us more vulnerable and therefore it is in our military interest to support Ukraine.”

His comments came after a meeting of defense leaders from around the world at Ramstein Air Base, in Germany, in the ongoing effort to coordinate the delivery of weapons and other equipment to Ukraine. The base had been decked out with flags from the nations of those in attendance. 

During his visit to Ukraine on Thursday, Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, said that Ukraine’s “rightful place” was in the military alliance.

Russia has justified the invasion in several ways, but preventing Ukraine from joining NATO is one of the reasons more frequently cited. On Thursday, the Kremlin once again said that Kyiv joining the alliance would be an existential threat for Russia.

On Friday, Stoltenberg said that Putin had “sent hundreds of thousands of troops, battle tanks, planes, missiles into a sovereign, independent country in Europe and killed thousands of civilians."