A war between Moscow and NATO, a subject of frequent speculation among NATO leaders in recent months, would bring “all humanity to the brink of destruction” and consequently the Russian Federation is not interested in invading Poland, President Putin has claimed.
Broadcaster Tucker Carlton reflected on months of discussion about the possibility of a coming war between Russia and the NATO alliance with one of his questions to the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin this week when he asked: “Do you think NATO is worried about this becoming a global war or a nuclear conflict… Can you imagine a scenario where you send Russian troops to Poland?”.
Putin was apparently dismissive of the idea, asking rhetorically: “Why would we do that? We simply don’t have any interest”. In all, Putin claimed, the only circumstance in which he would attack Poland was if Poland invaded Russia first.
How important these remarks are is difficult to judge for, as ever, taking the words of Vladimir Putin at face value is fraught with difficulty. Indeed, Carlson challenged Putin’s initial denial on these lines, remarking that to outsiders it would appear that Russia does clearly have territorial ambitions beyond its own borders, hence the war in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, Putin insisted Poland — a NATO member — is a whole other matter for Russia in contrast to Ukraine, as attacking it would start a world war. He told Carlson: “It is absolutely out of the question. You just don’t have to be any kind of analyst. It goes against common sense to get involved in some kind of a global war and a global war will bring all humanity to the brink of destruction. It’s obvious.”
Putin asserted NATO had been using him as a convenient “imaginary Russian threat” to “intimidate their own population”, asserting his alleged belief that “thinking people” in the West understood this was in fact fake, but a convenient political expediency to “extort additional money from U.S. taxpayers and European taxpayers”.
The discussion follows months of increasingly alarming comments from Western military leaders, warning of a rising likelihood of a major war befalling Europe in the coming years, with Russia as a focus. Poland sees itself as in the firing line and has been making some of the most strident claims about a looming threat, but other European nations have been just as active in that space.
The most senior military officer in NATO… said last week the next 20 years would not be “hunky dory” and the public should be prepared to be involved in a “whole of society event” should war with Russia come.
Challenged by a journalist over the extent to which comments by generals had alarmed the public and even triggered panic-buying of basic survival items like flashlights and battery radios, the Admiral said he welcomed such a move because the public needed to be frightened into action, saying “that’s great”. He said: “the people, they have to understand they play a role. Society is part of the solution… you need to have water, you need to have a radio on batteries, you need to have a flashlight with batteries to make sure you can survive the first 36 hours. Things like that, that’s simple things but it starts there.”
Those comments followed remarks by the military chief of Sweden, who said earlier this month: “Russia’s war against Ukraine is just a step, not an end game… We need to realise how serious the situation really is, and that everyone, individually, need to prepare themselves mentally”.
The British have also been making such remarks. Defence Minister Grant Shapps has said Europe is now in a new “pre-war” era, warning of “multiple theatres including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea” in five years. Those comments were picked up and developed this week by the head of the British Army, General Patrick Sanders, who said the Army needs to be ready to “rapidly expand” and train and equip civilians to fight.
“Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them”, Sanders said.
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has tried to row back some of these big claims, though, saying last month that he foresaw no “direct or imminent” threat to NATO nations.
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