Thursday, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis said it was time to show Russian President Vladimir Putin “what the alliance is capable of.”
Stavridis told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that out of an act of “necessity,” NATO should implement its response force of 30,000 troops “right up to the borders of the alliance.”
“If the United States and NATO want to throw everything they have at Vladimir Putin short of sending American troops into Ukraine and starting World War III, what do we do?” Host Joe Scarborough asked.
“You start by fully activating what is called the NATO Response Force,” Stavridis replied. “This is about 30,000 troops, airmen, seamen, soldiers obviously; you flood them forward to the borders of the alliance. Look, if you are waking up in Europe this morning, I hope you’re a member of NATO. You want to be inside this alliance this morning. By the way, if you are waking up in Stockholm, Sweden, or Helsinki, Finland, two very capable nations that are outside of the alliance, I would be thinking about how quickly can I get inside this alliance.”
He continued, “What the alliance will do this morning, Joe, in Brussels, the North Atlantic Council will hold sessions. All of the military leaders will convene. My successor, General Todd Walters, will be talking to all of the counterpart leaders in the military. And I think you are going to see NATO bring that NATO Response Force right up to the borders of the alliance — not as an act of war. I like Richard Haass’ phrase. It’s a response of necessity. We need to show Putin what the alliance is capable of. And doing that in the air, on the sea, moving our ships forward, and our troops to the border to me makes a lot of sense.”
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