NATO ready for direct confrontation with Russia — official

Chair of the NATO Military Committee Rob Bauer
©EPA-EFE/Lex van Lieshout

Chair of the NATO Military Committee Rob Bauer said that the US-led bloc is ready for a direct confrontation with Russia in an interview with Portugal’s RTP TV channel.

Replying to a question on the matter, he asserted: "We are ready." That said, he added that NATO is going to respond only if Russia crosses the red line by invading one of NATO member states.

The military official stressed that NATO should be better prepared because currently Russia has the military initiative. "The fact that your enemy has better weapons is not the problem of the enemy. That is your problem," he said.

The interview also raised the issue of introducing "a war-time economy but in peace time," however, Bauer admitted that this process would be difficult.

"This is an important signal for Russia… That we are prepared if they decide to go after NATO. This is a red line. If there is a red line, then it is the Russians crossing our borders," the Chair of the NATO Military Committee said.

He added that he believes that Russia’s strategic objectives go beyond Ukraine, with Moscow wanting to claim the territory of the former Soviet Union.

When asked whether NATO feared escalation in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Bauer said that while the beginning of the Russian aggression constituted an escalation, Ukraine’s desire to reclaim the territories that rightly belong to it is not an escalation.

"If (the Russians) stop the war today, there will be no escalation," Bauer stressed.

He also noted that the industrial production of the North Atlantic Alliance countries should be reoriented to the military sphere. In order to carry out rearmament, he believes that it is advisable to introduce a "peacetime war economy"