Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has put NATO alliance in jeopardy and its member states are in “absolute danger,” an official from the Allied Powers Headquarters in Europe (SHAPE) warned reporters on Wednesday, a month after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to CNN, the NATO official called Putin “Reckless” and said that he and his inner circle “are not interested in human life”. “From Russia, we realize that Putin and his entourage are completely reckless. They are not interested in human life. They lie publicly to hide their military operations. “Putin has completely changed his rhetoric towards the West and he has a deep hatred for our societies, for our values, so we really consider it dangerous and that the alliance is in complete danger,” the official said on Wednesday.
SHAPE is the headquarters of NATO military operations in Europe based in Brussels. Two SHAPE officials briefed reporters on NATO’s military stance and how they are responding to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The briefing came ahead of US President Joe Biden’s trip to NATO headquarters in Brussels to meet with leaders of NATO allies as the crisis in Ukraine continues. The war has created a “new reality” for NATO allies, another SHAPE official said, echoing Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a news conference earlier.
“You just heard the Secretary-General’s statements and he said it is a new reality and we need to restore our defense and our deterrent power,” the second SHAPE official said. “This is a permanent and profound change in the European security environment, and the Secretary-General has said the same thing.”
Officials said it was too early to predict how NATO would permanently change its military position across Europe because of Putin’s actions, but explained the change in strategy so far to strengthen the eastern wing, where its allies NATO borders Ukraine and ensure that they are prepared for any scenario that could provoke a war in Ukraine in NATO countries.
Because NATO Response Force was activated for the first time in its history, “40,000 soldiers” in the allied countries along the east wing are now working for the “collective security, collective defense” of all NATO countries, not just their own nations. There are eight battle groups, one in each of the eastern wing countries, that are part of this activation of the NATO Response Force, said the second SHAPE official.
This is a “tenfold increase” in what existed before the invasion of Ukraine, the official added. “In the field of land, in the land forces, there are now 40,000 soldiers in these eight battle groups, which are in one in each country along the east wing, that is, tenfold compared to what existed before the invasion of Russia “, said the second official of SHAPE.
In the air, there are “an additional 100 planes,” the official said. “We are always doing what we call air surveillance,” the official said, but now that the invasion has begun, they have eight aircraft flying to give the alliance a “24/7 air presence in the east wing.” In the waters around NATO allied countries, the alliance has “25 ships patrolling at any given time providing a 360-degree deterrent,” the official said.
“In addition, there are normally about 150 ships from additional NATO countries that can be redirected under NATO command and control,” the official added.
Although it is too early to say what the permanent changes in NATO’s military might will be due to Putin’s invasion, the official said the current force regime “at least” is a good “starting point” for how things could look like in the long run. “We are preparing for the worst, “But we are doing everything we can to prevent the worst from happening,” said the first official.
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