Could NATO enter into a direct confrontation with Russia? | DW News

Could NATO enter into a direct confrontation with Russia? | DW News

to the war in Ukraine next and the country says it does not have the means to defend itself from Russian air attacks and has asked NATO members to come to its Aid we’ll have more on what form this may or may not take in just a moment but first this report on the challenges keev is facing from the skies air raid sirens sound over ke last year while overhead air defenses shoot down most of an incoming Russian attack Russian missiles continue to strike targets across Ukraine including the vital Port of Odessa in the far west of the country Ukraine’s president vomir ziny has called on NATO members to set up an air defense Shield over his country to protect it from Russian missiles in an interview with the New York Times zinsky said so my question is what’s the problem why can’t we shoot them down is it defense yes is it an attack on Russia no us-made Patriot surface to air missiles are expensive but effective some types have a range of over 100 kilm Patriot missiles have already been deployed inside NATO members including Poland and Romania which border Ukraine a NATO air defense Shield could protect parts of Western Ukraine including Odessa but the capital ke would be out of range supporters say that would take pressure off Ukraine allowing it to concentrate its resources on the front line while some German politicians have embraced NATO air support it’s an idea the government has so far ruled out let’s get more from military analyst Frank ledwich Frank good morning why is this idea of NATO countries providing air defense cover over Ukraine proving so controversial well good morning bees the reason is that it’s extremely significant were this to happen throughout the 45 years or so of the Cold War our leaders who were then experienced and highly competent uh made every effort to avoid Western troops NATO troops US troops of whatever kind coming into open conflict with Russian or Soviet uh military assets or or indeed soldiers there’s are the risk then of of course and this would constitute in itself escalation and the trouble is of course escalation in all wars operates as a ratchet effect you ex escalate up doesn’t come down so then what what happens when these combatant troops as they would then become get hit legitimately I would suggest were they to be deployed in Ukraine Itself by Russians what then uh and the answer is of course further escalation so there’s a real danger in this and of course the implications are that the US eventually will be drawn into this I suspect they’ll be reluctant to do that but we will see but in more than two years of war we have crossed the point of escalation many times haven’t we there have been warnings of escalation from Russia for example there have been nuclear threats for example and nothing much has come to pass on that are we not entering a new phase in the war in which creative ideas are required for the next steps well yes to put to put it mildly and of course what we have now and did not have in 2022 is a real Prospect of Ukrainian defeat uh it’s every effort we’ve made uh in the past has largely failed including sanctions we’re now casting about for ideas but this would be very significant it would be having Western combat troops engaging with Russian forces and that is extremely significant and uh and by the way we talk a lot of nuclear there are all kinds of steps between this kind of action and nuclear and and there are options available on both sides but the point the fact that we we’re talking about options available on both sides in a situation by the way where Russia has what’s called escalation dominance is really disturbing and people should think very carefully before taking steps like this there is also debate about allowing Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia using Western weapon systems and French president Emanuel macron has been saying that Ukraine should be allowed to court neutralized bases in Russia from where strikes are are launched that sounds like a reasonable argument doesn’t it yes and it operates around particularly around KV where I think the point made is fair in that the the Russians strike Ukrainian forces and and ukrainians can’t Strike Back In what’s called counter battery fire in other words striking as macron says rightly the launch sites of of Russian missiles however in other parts it doesn’t make much sense since the the Russian rear the Russian operational rear is quite quite large but of course it is very there was much there a great difference in Striking someone like Crimea and the claimed lands the Ukrainian lands of the donbass and striking with Western missiles into Metropolitan Russia itself and UK and and Putin has made it very clear that is a significant step change and again careful thought will have to be given to that and the most important thing is if we were to allow the ukrainians to do this that there is a very strict absolutely firm and rock hard commitment on their part to attack only military targets we cannot have were this to happen civilian casualties that be a very serious step and a very serious misstep were that to take place and would then I think the Russians rightly could regard that as as a legitimate reason for for for retaliation if large scale civilian casualties were involved um but but for purely military targets is a good argument for it I suspect we’ll only see the French of British missiles do that I can’t see the Americans agreeing to it in an election year they don’t want to become directly involved in this although of course with escalation with NATO there’s always the risk of that happening uh I don’t think we’re going to see us missiles uh achieving this and then there’s another problem by the way and that’s stocks the French and the British don’t have uh deep stocks they’re already digging into their supplies and I suspect the the numbers of missiles involved will be very limited and therefore the effect quite limited uh we’ll leave it there uh for the time being thanks so much for joining us today military analyst Frank lewi thanks Brash defense expert Niko langa once served as as Chief of Staff in Germany’s defense Ministry he’s now a senior fellow at the Munich security conference welcome to DW what do you think of the Ukrainian president’s request that NATO shoot down Russian missiles in Flight over Ukraine yeah not NATO should have decided this by themselves already it’s perfectly legitimate under International law and it is a double effect if we should help with using our air defenses at the eastern border of NATO and EU to shoot down missiles and drones in Ukraine or over Ukraine that are when in our range it will create a zone of safety but it will also give Ukraine the possibility to move their air defense assets further to the east to hak to nipro to the front line where they are badly needed I think it should be done okay NATO’s consistent argument has been that direct confrontation between NATO and Russian forces would constitute an escalation that NATO does not want so how is NATO countries attacking Russian missiles not a direct confrontation I’m not sure if that is a NATO argument uh because Yen Stenberg I think was very clear uh uh that it’s the decision of member states and some member states they seem to be ready to do this some others are making the argument that there might be an escalatory risk I would have maybe believed in that argument two years ago but now that cruise missiles have already been flown in the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in zaso and Russia did not react on this uh other action has been taken militarily including sinking of very important Russian warships I think the escalatory risk is extremely low it’s just a question of political will to do this and under international law you are not becoming a party of the war if you are just helping to defend a country that is under aggression we have seen this with the collective defense for the air against the air attacks against Israel similar things could be done for Ukraine this war isn’t going so well for Ukraine they’re outgunned and outmanned and their allies are slow and often reluctant could it be argued that president zalanski is actually trying to Edge NATO into a confrontation with Russia I don’t think so the ukrainians including president zinski have been consistently saying give us the tools and we will stop the Russians we are too slow and too reluctant to give the ukrainians the tools and by not giving ukrainians the tools to stop the Russians we are actually increasing the risk that we will have to fight the Russians by ourselves in a certain amount of of time so no I don’t think that zinski is trying to drag NATO into this but he is showing that international law permits more possibilities to the partners of Ukraine than they are actually using right now and I think he is right in making that point you’re on your way to Prague where NATO foreign ministers are due to me to discuss coordinating uh military aid to Ukraine what do you expecting to come out of these talks well I hope that there will be a clear message on restrict on lifting the restrictions on the use of weapons that have been delivered by Partners the situation near hak and near sui the Border regions with Russia make clear you need to use uh Western delivered weapons and ammunition to fire against Russian on other side of the Border uh uh so that could be I think one result some countries are I think willing to move forward on that um all right well that it looks like that we’ve just about gotten beaten by the technology so let’s leave it there Nico um the technology appears to have beaten us thank you so much for talking us through that so clearly though defense expert niik Al Langer from the Munich security conference thank you

Ukraine has called on NATO allies for more help in protecting its skies, warning that it does not have the means to defend itself from Russian air attacks. Kyiv is running low on air defenses across the country, leaving its forces and cities vulnerable to Russian drone and missile strikes. NATO’s consistent argument has been that direct confrontation between NATO and Russian forces would consitute an escalation that NATO does not want. Could it be argued that President Zelenski is actually trying to edge NATO into a confrontation with Russia?

#NATO #Ukraine #AirDefense
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