Nato ‘will stand with Ukraine’ to get long-lasting peace, senior official tells BBC
A senior official from the military alliance told the BBC that NATO would “stand by Ukraine until the day we bring them to the table for a long-lasting peace.”
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, who has been chairman of NATO’s military committee since January, added that he thought the Russia-Ukraine war had reached a stalemate from an operational perspective and that “it is almost time to sit down and talk, because this is a loss of life.”
Pointing to the fact that Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 resulted in two more countries (Finland and Sweden) joining the Western alliance, Admiral Dragone described the war as a strategic failure for Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite Russia’s recent slow and increasing advances on the battlefield.
“They will not be able to have a friendly or puppet government like in Belarus. Putin will not succeed.”
When asked whether European countries were ready to continue supporting Ukraine’s defense, he said they were. It was helpful, he believed they had served as a wake-up call of sorts and that they were now taking responsibility for their own defence.
NATO members in June Agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. The move comes after US President Donald Trump repeatedly called on members to do so.
over Russia Latest announcement on long-range, nuclear-powered weapons Like Burevestnik and Poseidon, the former Italian chief of defense staff and naval aviator also downplayed their concerns, saying NATO was an alliance for nuclear defence.
“We are not threatened by them,” he said, “we are simply prepared to defend our 32 nations and one billion people. We are a nuclear alliance.”
Regarding the risk of future invasion or attack, Admiral Dragone underlined the availability and proviso to any such place as the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
However, as NATO stated, Article 5, which recognizes that an attack on one country is equivalent to an attack on all countries, will be requested and NATO will defend these countries.
When asked whether the United States was involved in this, he replied: “Yes, because they are determined on this issue and underlined that they are still involved in this.”
Admiral Dragone said that air defense is currently the top priority among NATO’s defense needs. Recent attacks by Russian drones on Poland and Romania have led the alliance to upgrade its air defenses.
Regarding the possibility of launching an imaginary “drone wall” on NATO’s eastern borders, he stated that this would be completed within a few months and that “the alliance’s Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk” would be operational. [Virginia] Already working on it”.
“There are many things on the market that will meet our immediate needs, so we have established a new activity called Eastern Sentinel… integrating all the air defense we already have on our eastern flank.
“Airfield attacks happen quite frequently, we escort them out and that’s essentially the game,” the admiral said.
Admiral Dragone concluded on a positive note, despite there being no sign that Russia is changing course on the war in Ukraine and signs that some members – particularly Slovakia and Hungary – are increasingly opposed to supporting Ukraine’s defence.
“The alliance is reliable, it is mature, there is harmony that is our center of gravity.”
“The alliance is stronger than our enemies and we will stay with Ukraine until peace is achieved,” he added.
