Any nuclear attack by Russia against Ukraine will lead to a military response from the West "
so powerful that the Russian army will be annihilated
", said Thursday, October 13 the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
Russian President Vladimir “
Putin says he's not bluffing with the nuclear threat.
He must then understand that the countries which support Ukraine, the European Union and its member states, the United States and NATO, are not bluffing either.
Any nuclear attack on Ukraine will lead to a response, not a nuclear response, but a military response so powerful that the Russian army will be annihilated
,” he told the College of Europe in Bruges.
'Dangerous and irresponsible' threats
Moscow's threats are taken very seriously by the members of the Atlantic Alliance.
"
President Putin's veiled nuclear threats are dangerous and irresponsible
," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway ruled on Tuesday before a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
“
Russia knows that a nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought
,” he warned.
“
We closely monitor Russian nuclear forces.
We have seen no change in Russia's position.
But we remain vigilant
, ”he said, however.
"
We have no indication at this time that Russia has changed its nuclear posture, but we are monitoring it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
," US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Wednesday.
Read alsoJosep Borrell wants to see EU diplomacy adapt to “a world of radical uncertainty”
Russian military doctrine provides for the possibility of nuclear strikes if Russian territory is attacked.
The former president and number two of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev assured that Moscow would defend the new annexed territories “
including with strategic nuclear weapons
”.
"
We must take this rhetoric from Russia seriously, but we must not panic
," assured a European NATO official during the meeting of ministers in Brussels, observing that annexed territories had already been taken over by the Ukrainian army "
without the worst-case scenario occurring
".