NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assures that NATO will ensure that Moscow clearly understands that a nuclear war cannot be won. The most important thing is to prevent a nuclear war.
The Secretary General also believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin understands that Russia cannot win such a war. He expressed this opinion on Wednesday during the "Reuters NEXT Newsmaker with Jens Stoltenberg" conversation, which was broadcast online.
Asked if Putin was bluffing when he said he was "using all available means to protect Russia," Stoltenberg said: "This is dangerous and crazy nuclear rhetoric. It is not new - he has done this many times already. He knows very well that a nuclear war can never be fought, and it cannot be won, it will have unprecedented consequences for Russia. Therefore, NATO has also increased its military presence in the eastern part of the alliance, removing room for mistakes and misunderstandings in Moscow."
Behind this answer was another question: what will NATO do if Russia uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine? The Secretary General replied: "We will ensure that there is no misunderstanding in Moscow that this war cannot be won. But how we react will depend on the situation and what kind of weapons they can use. The most important thing is to prevent it from happening."
According to Stoltenberg, this is the reason why the alliance has been absolutely clear in its communications with Russia "about the unprecedented consequences, that a nuclear war cannot be won by Russia and why we have increased the number of our high alert forces and the presence of NATO forces on the eastern flank of the alliance".
"We are very closely following what Russia is doing. So far, we do not see any changes in the nuclear state, in nuclear readiness, but we monitor it very carefully and remain vigilant," the Secretary General added.
