Russia’s Vladimir Putin does not want a direct war with NATO and does not want a nuclear war, the head of the UK armed forces has said.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin also signaled that Moscow and Beijing do not have the military “proficiency” necessary to defeat the kind of barrage of drones and missiles that the United States and its allies destroyed in April when Iran tried to attack Israel.
In an interview to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of the Second World War, the Chief of Defense Staff sought to strike a reassuring note that a third global conflict was not imminent, warning against the use of “loose language”. Instead, he said things had simply become “a little more dangerous.”
But Admiral Radakin said he believed the British public would again rise to the challenge if there were another existential threat like the one once posed by Nazi Germany.
“Absolutely! I think our nation has that pride, has that commitment,” he said.
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The admiral – who was unable to answer specific questions about UK defense issues because of the general election campaign – was speaking in front of the original map that was used to help plan “Operation Overlord”, the code name for the Allied invasion. of occupied France.
It covers the entire wall of a room at Southwick House, near Portsmouth, where US General Dwight Eisenhower, along with British General Bernard Montgomery and Admiral Bertram Ramsay, agreed on the final timing for D-Day on 6 June 1944 – after a 24-hour meeting. hour delay due to bad weather.
General Eisenhower “came to the spot, apparently with the rain pounding on the windows here, and said, ‘Okay, let’s go,'” Admiral Radakin said.
In what remains the largest maritime attack ever, around 150,000 soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy on the first day, supported by 7,000 ships and more than 2,000 aircraft.
“What we can learn from this is that when nations come together, we can do incredible things,” said the UK defense chief.
Although not on the same level, he drew similarities between the Allied action against the Nazis and the way Western nations are coming together to help Ukraine fight. RussiaIt’s the invasion today.
“All this for the simplicity of bringing peace back to the people of Ukraine.”
Admiral Radakin, known for having an optimistic outlook, insisted that Russia is “failing” in Ukraine even as Russian forces launched a new invasion in the region northeast of Kharkiv, where they recaptured territory while Ukrainian troops suffer from ammunition and manpower shortages.
“Russia is making tactical advances on land,” said the head of the UK armed forces.
“But we need to go back a little. If we go back to March 2022, Russia had taken about 17% of Ukraine’s territory. Today it has 11%. So Russia is still in deficit.”
Asked whether he was confident Ukraine would win, Admiral Radakin said: “I’m extremely confident…
“By the end of June, Russia will have lost 500,000 people – dead and injured. We are already past 800 days into a war that Putin predicted would last three days. This is difficult for Ukraine, but we must maintain our support. “
Admiral Radakin was speaking before the US and other allies publicly supported Ukraine in using Western weapons to attack military targets inside Russia – a move that further increased tensions between the West and Moscow.
However, he seemed very confident that the Kremlin was not looking for a direct confrontation with members of the NATO alliance.
“Putin doesn’t want a war with NATO. Putin doesn’t want a nuclear war. And we have a huge advantage because of the strength of NATO.”
Photo: AP
Regarding the potential for an imminent third world war, the military chief said: “We have to be very careful to distinguish between the really serious and profound threats in the late 1930s and then how we got into a world war and not use loose language that in some ways we are on the brink of a world war now. The world is a little more dangerous. But we must rest easy with everything we have in place.
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He spoke about a moment in April when the US, UK and other allies mobilized in support of the Israeli military to prevent a wider war in the Middle East after Iran decided to launch a major attack on Israel in retaliation for a Israeli attack on an Iranian facility. In Syria.
Admiral Radakin said the Iranian regime launched more than 100 ballistic missiles, nearly 200 drones and dozens of cruise missiles – which were defeated.
“If I look at this and compare it to other major military events, then really only the US, with its allies, I think has this capability,” he said.
“I don’t believe our potential adversaries would have been able to respond in the way we saw on the night of April 13.”
Asked specifically whether Moscow or Beijing could have done this, he said: “I think the US leadership and the competence we have with our allies is a level above our potential enemies.”
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
