NATO workers fear a Russian attack on several fronts
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg talks about the developments of the conflict in Ukraine
In light of the conflict in Ukraine, representatives of the 30 NATO countries and Russia met for the first time in more than two years. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg explains here whether countries are able to reach an agreement and what next steps NATO is planning now.
According to a media report, there are fears within NATO that Russia will use its recently greatly increased military presence to strike a broad front – including against member states. NATO will not be able to quickly respond to such an escalation.
IThere are clearly warnings circulating within NATO that Russian President Vladimir Putin may seek armed conflict with the West outside Ukraine. As diplomats from several countries in the Spiegel military alliance have reported, there are concerns that the Russian armed forces could use their recently increased presence in the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic and the Arctic to strike a broad front – even against NATO countries. In such a situation, massive disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks can also be expected.
According to NATO, there are currently no concrete indications of readiness for such an attack. But Moscow’s chances of escalation are real — and in an emergency, NATO will not have to confront Russia quickly, either militarily or digitally.
Recently, the Russian government asked NATO to pledge under contract not to accept any other former Soviet republics and withdraw their forces from the Eastern Allies. Putin massed about 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine.
A prominent Russian diplomat also toured the possibility of the Russian army’s participation in the American continent. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with Russian television station RTVIT on Thursday that he could neither confirm nor rule out the possibility of Russia building military infrastructure in Cuba and Venezuela.
Ryabkov led the Russian delegation to US-Russia talks on the tense situation on the Ukrainian border and other security issues in Geneva on Monday. The talks in Geneva and the talks between Russia and NATO on Wednesday in Vienna failed to overcome differences regarding security guarantees demanded by Russia against the backdrop of the reinforcement of Russian forces near Ukraine.