If Russia employs chemical or nuclear weapons in its military assault in Ukraine, NATO would be “forced to take appropriate measures,” NATO’s Deputy General Secretary Mircea Geoană told The Associated Press in an interview.
He did not detail what action the defense alliance would take, but warned: “I can guarantee that NATO is ready to respond proportionately.”
NATO is a “defensive alliance, but also it’s a nuclear alliance,” he explained. If Russia uses “chemical weapons or other kinds of higher-end systems against Ukraine, this will be changing fundamentally the nature of the war that Mr. Putin has waged against Ukraine.”
The fear of Russia’s use of far more horrifying weapons has increased as Vladimir Putin fumes over an operation he thought would be successfully completed quickly.
“Mr. Putin probably believed his own post-imperial fantasies, thinking that Ukrainians will welcome them with open arms,” Geoană said.
“In fact, they got very fierce resistance. We are convinced that today, even with reinforcements that are still coming into Ukraine, Russia does not possess the forces and the capacity to occupy the whole of Ukraine,” he added.
Until there is some resolution, “we hope that Mr. Putin will not go even further down the road of war crimes, and even more devastation against a sovereign nation,” said Geoană.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
