BUCHAREST, ROMANIA --
NATO Deputy-Basic Secretary Mircea Geoana says that Russian President Vladimir Putin's month-old "barbaric struggle" towards Ukraine is a struggle he can not win.
In an interview with The Related Press, the previous Romanian overseas minister and ambassador to america added that NATO could be "compelled to take acceptable measures" within the occasion of a chemical or nuclear assault, which follows a string of ominous feedback from Moscow officers who refuse to rule out their use. He declined to say what these measures could be.
"NATO is a defensive alliance, but additionally it is a nuclear alliance," he mentioned. "If they are going to be utilizing chemical weapons or different kinds of higher-end programs towards Ukraine, this will probably be altering basically the character of the struggle that Mr. Putin has waged towards Ukraine."
"I can assure that NATO is able to reply proportionately," he added.
Geoana mentioned Russia's assault on a theater within the besieged port metropolis of Mariupol, which Ukrainian authorities mentioned Friday killed about 300 civilians, is "one other proof that Putin's struggle is a struggle that's unprovoked, illogical, and in addition barbarian."
"We hope that Mr. Putin won't go even additional down the street of struggle crimes, and much more devastation towards a sovereign nation," he mentioned.
However the brutal struggle that Russia has waged since Feb. 24, is having the alternative impact to what Putin hoped for, the NATO official mentioned, and has solely united the West and labored to bolster the 30-nation defensive alliance.
At a NATO summit on Thursday, alliance leaders agreed to launch 4 new Jap Flank battlegroups -- which normally quantity round 1,000-1,500 troops -- to Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
"These teams are already constituting themselves," Geoana, a former overseas minister in his native Romania, mentioned. "I can anticipate that this will probably be a matter of some months earlier than we see these battlegroups up and operating and totally purposeful."
If the "very poorly deliberate and executed" navy marketing campaign continues to tug on for Putin's forces, who many observers say are floundering on the battlefield, Geoana believes that it may elevate the stakes for miscalculations by the Russian chief.
"We see that in the meanwhile, the Russian navy planning is making an attempt to reassess the scenario -- to attempt to compensate for the large losses in individuals and materials that they suffered within the first month of the struggle."
Geoana mentioned the mix of harsh financial and particular person sanctions on Russia and massive losses militarily might ultimately make Putin rethink his offensive on Ukraine.
"Mr. Putin in all probability believed his personal post-imperial fantasies, considering that Ukrainians will welcome them with open arms," he mentioned. "In actual fact, they acquired very fierce resistance. We're satisfied that right this moment, even with reinforcements which might be nonetheless coming into Ukraine, Russia doesn't possess the forces and the capability to occupy the entire of Ukraine."
By Geoana's estimation, the Putin regime's most important mistake was underestimating "the bravery of the Ukrainian military" and the "unity of the political West."
"We're supporting Ukraine in lots of some ways, in protection phrases, in monetary phrases, in humanitarian phrases," he mentioned. "When the time will come, and that point will come, we'll additionally assist Ukraine reconstruct, rebuild their nation as a result of they earned our admiration -- they deserve our help."
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