Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has put the NATO alliance and its member countries “at absolute risk”, an official at the Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers Europe (Shape) told reporters on Wednesday. 23), a month after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The official called Putin “reckless” and said he and his inner circle “don’t care about human life.”
“From Russia, we realize that Putin and his inner circle are absolutely reckless people. They don’t care about human life. They publicly lie to hide their military operations. Putin has totally changed his speech towards the West and he has a deep hatred for our societies, for our values, so we really appreciate that he is dangerous and that the alliance is absolutely at risk.”
Shape is the headquarters for the NATO alliance’s military operations in Europe. It is located in Brussels, Belgium. Two Shape officials briefed reporters on NATO’s military posture and how they are responding to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The briefing comes ahead of US President Joe Biden’s trip to NATO Headquarters in Brussels to meet with leaders of NATO allied countries as the crisis in Ukraine continues.
The war has created a “new reality” for NATO allies, another Shape official said, echoing the words of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a news conference today.
“You just listened to SecGen, and he said it’s a new reality and we must redefine our defense and our deterrence posture,” said the other Shape employee.
“This is a permanent and profound change in the European security environment, and SecGen said the same thing.”
Officials said it was too early to predict how NATO would permanently change its stance on military force across Europe because of Putin’s actions, but spoke about how the stance had changed so far to bolster the eastern flank, where NATO’s allied countries NATO borders Ukraine, and to ensure that they are prepared for any scenario that the war in Ukraine may cause to NATO countries.
As the NATO Response Force was activated for the first time in history, “40,000 troops” in NATO allied countries along the eastern flank are now working for the “collective security, collective defense” of all NATO countries, not only for their own nations.
There are eight battle groups, one in each Eastern European country, that are part of this NATO Response Force activation, said the second Shape official.
This is a “tenfold increase” from what there was before the invasion of Ukraine, the official added.
“In the land domain, in the land forces, there are now 40,000 troops in these eight battle groups, which are in each country along the eastern flank, which is a tenfold increase from what there was before the Russian invasion.” , said one of the employees.
In the air, there are “more than 100 additional planes”, he continued.
“We always do what we call air policing,” the official said, but now, after the invasion began, they have eight aircraft flying to give the alliance “24/7 air presence on the eastern flank.”
In the waters around NATO allied countries, the alliance has “25 ships at any given time that are patrolling the waters providing 360 degree deterrence,” the official said.
“In addition, there are typically around 150 ships from NATO nations that are also crossing the waters and can move back and forth under NATO command and control,” the official added.
While it’s too early to say what permanent changes in NATO’s military force posture will be because of Putin’s invasion, the official said the current force posture “at the very least” is a good “starting point” for how things will go. may seem long term.
“We are preparing for the worst, but doing everything we can to prevent the worst from happening,” said the first official.
Source: CNN Brasil
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