The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Petr Pavel, invited the European NATO members to allocate up to 2% of their GDP (gross domestic product) for defense in order to reduce the U.S. influence that covers up to 75% of NATO’s expenses. According to the military man, today’s Europe faces two serious threats, Rosbalt reported.

The first threat is from the south and is posed by non-governmental formations and the rise of terrorism. The second threat is more dangerous. It is Russia with its current ideology. According to Russian military doctrine, we are still in a state of war, as Le Monde quoted the General as saying. In his interview with the edition, Pavel offered to develop a strategy for Russia, which sometimes behaves aggressively.

At the same time, the General specified that a threat from Russia is only a potential but the threat from the south is very real. However, there is no sense in fighting terrorism by military methods. He provided Libya as an example, where the military plan was perfectly developed and implemented but after the overthrow of Gaddafi there was no one to whom the governance of the country could be passed.

As a result, the country found itself in political chaos. Russia poses a greater threat in a military sense as its military might, including its nuclear capacity, presents a significant challenge for us. “I don’t think that Russia wants to come into open armed conflict with NATO but its intentions aren’t clear,” the General said. As proof, Pavel recalled an increased number of Russian servicemen who have invaded the air and naval space of NATO countries.

In his interview, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee admits that he hasn’t had a chance to talk with the Russian representative, Valery Gerasimov, since his appointment one year ago, despite his numerous attempts to establish a dialogue.

“Russia prefers bilateral relations. It communicates separately with the Americans, British, French and Germans. Such face-to-face relations allow it to maintain equal relations. There would be no strategic benefit for Russia to have a dialogue with NATO. Russia’s purpose is to discredit NATO that’s why it doesn’t want to have a dialogue with the Alliance,” the General noted.

“In 2014, Russia used the tactic of starting a hybrid war in Ukraine. According to the Russian doctrine, we are in a state of war, which is why Russia uses all means of attack ranging from propaganda to the use of soldiers without insignia, from cyber attacks to nuclear threats. We can assume that Russia will repeat the same tactics in countries where there is a large Russian-speaking population. Russia will not hesitate to use its military might if it serves its political purposes. That’s why we always should be ready for such a possibility. We are preparing our forces under these scenarios, similar to what has happened in the south of Ukraine and the Baltic countries. Currently, we are finishing a plan for the protection of this region. This plan will be approved during the July summit in Warsaw. Then, we will prepare new plans for the protection of other regions bordering with Russia,” Pavel stated in response to the question whether NATO is preparing for possible conflict with Russia.

At the same time, the General understands that only Russia’s immediate neighbors, the Baltic countries and Poland, have raised the alarm and demanded the increase in the deployment of air defense systems on their territory. According to him, there is no particular sense in the deployment of troops along the Russian border because the war that NATO would face on the Eastern front will be flexible.

  Russia, NATO

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