On Saturday, Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer declared that the US-led military alliance is “ready” for a direct confrontation with Russia.
Overview
In an interview with Portuguese TV channel RTP, Bauer noted that during the NATO summit in June, the alliance decided to add four more units in its eastern flank in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
“I think that’s an important message for the Russians, that our posture has changed, to show them that we are ready if they would have an idea to come to NATO,” he asserted, adding, “This is a red line. If there is a red line, then it is the Russians crossing our borders.”
The officer mentioned that NATO had multiple battle formations along its eastern flank when hostilities started in Ukraine in February 2022.
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) January 30, 2023
Nevertheless, Bauer emphasised that “if [the Russians] stop the war today, there will be no escalation.”
Ukraine War a Game-changer
Bauer, an admiral in the Royal Netherlands Navy, pointed out that until the Ukraine war, NATO members would decide when and where to deploy forces. However, he stated that the Russian forces began the military operation “at the moment of their choosing, so we have to be much more ready, we have no time to prepare, because it’s up to them when they come.”
Admitting that NATO had “lost the monopoly on military initiative,” Bauer spoke about “a war-time economy, but in peacetime,” which, he admitted, would be difficult.
However, he noted that it was crucial for NATO members to direct their civilian industrial production toward military goals.
Head of NATO's strategy council, Admiral Rob Bauer, says NATO is ready for "direct confrontation" with Russia -- but must transition to a "wartime economy" modeled on US industrial policy in World War II, when civilian factories were appropriated for full-time military production pic.twitter.com/Vxurjgodla
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Furthermore, Bauer considered the Western arms supply to Ukraine “not escalatory.” “The fact that your enemy has better weapons, it’s not the problem of the enemy, that’s your problem,” he opined, adding that NATO needs to focus on rearmament as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategic goals go beyond Ukraine.
Russia to Remain a Threat
During a press conference in Brussels earlier this month, Bauer stressed, “Whatever the outcome of the war, the Russians will most likely have similar ambitions [...] therefore the threat does not go away.”
The military official added that NATO expects Moscow to strengthen its defence and “reconstitute what they had,” prior to the Ukraine war.
Another World War
On Sunday, Chinese military experts claimed that Bauer’s statement signified that the military alliance’s direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict would escalate the situation, turning it “into a confrontation between NATO and Russia, and the outbreak of World War III in Europe would become an event with high possibility.”