Status: October 21, 2021 9:40 p.m.
How could you respond to attacks from Russia? The NATO defense ministers have defined a strategy to deter Russia. Moscow had previously threatened consequences if Ukraine joined NATO.
NATO defense ministers have agreed on a new master plan to deter Russia. “We are further strengthening our alliance with better and modernized plans,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after the ministerial meeting in Brussels. The strategy aims to be prepared for simultaneous attacks by Russia in the Baltic States and the Black Sea region. The NATO officials stressed that they did not assume that a Russian attack was imminent.
The NATO defense ministers at the meeting at NATO headquarters.
Image: dpa
Russia: NATO destabilizes Europe
The Moscow government denied all accusations that it was acting aggressively and, in turn, accused NATO of destabilizing Europe with its strategic preparations. Western diplomats countered that the “Concept for Deterrence and Defense in the Euro-Atlantic Area” and the associated implementation strategy were necessary because Russia was developing advanced weapon systems and moving troops and armaments closer to NATO’s external borders. The deterrent scenarios also revolve around the use of nuclear weapons.
“That is the way of deterrence,” said Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Deutschlandfunk. “We have to make it very clear to Russia that in the end – and that is also the deterrent doctrine – we are ready to use such means so that it has a deterrent effect beforehand and nobody gets the idea, for example the areas above the Baltic States or in the To attack Black Sea NATO partners. ” That is the core idea and will be adapted to the current behavior of Russia. “In particular, we see violations of the airspace over the Baltic states, but also increasing attacks around the Black Sea.”
According to representatives of Western governments, around 100,000 Russian soldiers were gathered on the border with Ukraine in May – more than since the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. In September Russia and its ally Belarus held military exercises that had alerted Baltic NATO members.
Russia had previously threatened NATO with consequences if the Western military alliance took further steps to accept Ukraine. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday that Russia had no right to prevent Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that Austin practically paved the way for Ukraine to join NATO. Even if there is no formal admission, the alliance is already promoting the military development of Ukraine, Putin said. This poses a threat to Russia.
Warning of air strikes against terrorists
In addition, NATO warned the new rulers in Afghanistan against backing internationally active terrorists. “Allies have the ability to take action against terrorist threats from the air,” said Secretary General Stoltenberg. It was agreed that they would remain vigilant and that the Taliban would be held responsible if they breached commitments in the areas of terrorism and human rights.
In Afghanistan, shortly after the end of the NATO military presence in the country, the militant Islamist Taliban regained power. The aim of the almost two decades of operation was actually to prevent that.