NATO Commander Warns A ‘Very Big Russia Problem’ Will Remain No Matter How War Ends

The Biden administration and leading NATO officials have long touted that their muscular response to Russia, which has included firm support to Ukraine in terms of billions in arms sent and setting up training programs, has deterred Moscow from expanding the conflict. These leaders claim that escalating against Russian forces now can ensure peace for the future. But the chief of NATO’s European Command, Christopher Cavoli, has recently cautioned about the long-haul challenges ahead. He injected a little more realism into the conversation, warning in an address before the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Thursday that the West “can’t be under any illusions” as ultimately Russia will reconstitute its force and will be “very, very angry” at its adversaries Washington and NATO.

Cavoli described that in modern warfare a military force “either wins fast and upfront” or is stuck “for a long slog full of unpredictable twists and turns” – which is clearly the course of the Ukraine conflict. “A lot of it’s going to come down to force generation capability, which side can generate force fastest and take advantage of that while they have a window of opportunity,” he asserted. By most accounts, Russia is doing this, and has by far the advantage in terms of manpower and artillery shells.

While remaining optimistic about Kiev’s chances to change the battlefield situation, the top commander at one point said bluntly, “We can’t be under any illusions: At the end of a conflict in Ukraine — however, it concludes — we are going to have a very big Russia problem. We are going to have a situation where Russia is reconstituting its force, is located on the borders of NATO, is led by largely the same people as it is right now, is convinced that we’re the adversary, and is very, very angry.” Watch a key segment of his comments below:

While Biden and his neocon principals love to brag about how they’ve handed Russia a grand strategic defeat in Ukraine, the people who actually have to carry out their policies see it differently.

Here’s Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, supreme allied commander Europe and… pic.twitter.com/sgz3AJ5fC8

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) July 20, 2024