NATO’s most senior military officer believes the alliance has to continue arming Ukraine and stop allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to deter it from aiding Kyiv to the best of its abilities.

Adm. Rob Bauer, the chairman of the Military Committee of NATO and the military adviser to the secretary-general and the North Atlantic Council, acknowledged on Friday that the alliance has allowed Putin to “self-deter” the United States and the alliance from acting in Ukraine’s best interests “many, many times.”