Kujat, former inspector general of the Bundeswehr and ex-chairman of the NATO military committee, calls for arms deliveries to be combined with initiatives for armistice negotiations, e.g. at the G20 meeting, and warns against further escalation:
- Russia is far from having exhausted its military capabilities
- The spiral of escalation is currently turning dangerously with attacks and retaliatory strikes
- The rhetoric about “tactical” nuclear weapons fails to recognize that any use of nuclear weapons would result in the destruction of Europe.
A controversial position in the West at the moment. As an employee of Helmut Schmidt, Kujat experienced the Cold War and the logic of nuclear deterrence at close quarters and sees US President Biden as confirmation of his warning of nuclear war.
Kujat sees more intense fighting in Ukraine
Regarding the current rocket attacks, Kujat says: “We have an intensification of combat operations!”
The attacks on the Ukrainian cities are direct retaliatory strikes and nothing else – this is also shown by the targets to be hit, infrastructure with electricity and water for the Ukrainian population – just as the Ukrainians disrupted the supply of the Russians with their attack on the Crimean Bridge had. That is the problem we currently have: “We see a mutual escalation.”
So under the motto: First one, then the other!
Escalation to nuclear weapons?
And this escalation builds up like a screw until it reaches the extreme, namely the use of nuclear weapons. “Madness knows no bounds!” Kujat finds it amazing that “Western governments are accepting all this without trying to interrupt and prevent this spiral of escalation.”
How could that work? In any case, don’t just keep supplying more powerful weapons to Ukraine, says Kujat. This only increases the risk that at some point someone will resort to extremes. He rather sees the need to find a political/diplomatic way out, for example in mid-November at the G20 summit with a meeting between Biden and Putin. A ceasefire is a prerequisite for a way out. Otherwise he fears “an endless spiral of violence.”
NATO discusses arms deliveries to Ukraine
He hopes that the NATO defense ministers’ meeting will provide a good assessment of which weapons are to be delivered to Ukraine. Defense weapons are right and important, but Kujat warns of offensive weapons that could reach Russian territory.
Kujat counters the objection that Putin is giving in: “Russia is the superior power in this war and has not yet exhausted its military possibilities.” So Putin can always go one better.
“A nuclear operation will destroy Europe, you have to be clear about that.”
“No turning point in the Bundeswehr”
Incidentally, the former inspector general also gives out against the defense minister.
So far, there is no sign that the announced turning point for the Bundeswehr will be seriously implemented.
Even if they did, the Bundeswehr would not be ready for action for national and alliance defense until 2030 at the earliest.
Tamara Bilic talks to General Harald Kujat, former Inspector General of the German Armed Forces and former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.