Any Russian nuclear attack on Ukraine will provoke a military response from the West “so powerful that the Russian army will be annihilated,” European diplomat Josep Borrell said on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is not lying about the nuclear threat. He then he must understand that the countries that support Ukraine, the European Union and its member states, the United States and NATO, are not lying either. A nuclear attack on Ukraine will lead to a response, not a nuclear response, but a military response so powerful that the Russian army will be wiped out,” he said at the College of Europe in Bruges.
A change in the “nature of conflict”
“If Russia uses a nuclear weapon, whatever it is, against Ukraine, this will have serious consequences,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed at the end of a meeting of Alliance Defense Ministers in which he participated. Joseph Borrell.
“Russia knows this… We will not go into the details of our response, but of course this will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict,” Jens Stoltenberg added.
“Any use of nuclear weapons, even a small weapon, will have consequences and Russia knows this,” he said.
But “the circumstances in which NATO might have to use nuclear weapons are extremely remote,” the NATO secretary general said.
“An attack on NATO allies is one thing and in that case, of course, Article 5 will be triggered. But as far as Ukraine is concerned, NATO is not a party to the conflict,” he said, explaining, implicitly ruling out to the allies. recourse to nuclear weapons for its response.
“NATO’s nuclear deterrence is intended to deter any attack against allies,” he insisted.
“We have very, very good information”
Members of the Atlantic Alliance take Moscow’s threats very seriously. “They are very dangerous and irresponsible,” warned US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “We have no indication at this time that Russia has changed its nuclear posture, but we are monitoring it 24/7,” he said.
“We have very, very good information,” said Jens Stoltenberg.
The former president and number two of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, assured that Moscow will defend the new annexed territories “even with strategic nuclear weapons.”
“We must take this rhetoric from Russia seriously, but we must not panic,” declared a European NATO official, noting that the annexed territories had already been taken by the Ukrainian army “without the worst happening.”
Source: BFM TV
