A former NATO leader has revealed the potential reality Britain will face if it does not send weapons to Ukraine and its allies in the Baltic states.
Former NATO deputy supreme commander in Europe, General Richard Shirreff, said that US President Donald Trump has dealt a "mortal blow" to NATO with his statements about the alliance and his actions regarding the war in Ukraine, British media report.
Richard Shirreff said a Trump-brokered peace deal that could lead to Ukraine's capitulation could encourage Putin to rearm and rebuild.
“He will never give up his goal of taking control of all of Ukraine,” he said. In his 2021 essay on Ukraine and Russia, Putin made a number of dubious claims, including that Ukrainians and Russians are one people.
Sir Richard indicated that after taking Ukraine, Putin would try to install puppet regimes in Georgia, Moldova and Romania, before turning his gaze to the Baltics.
This, he said, would lead to a direct war between European countries and Moscow. The attack would follow previous patterns of the Russian military. He recalled the destruction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
"The expulsion of children, the rape of women and the massacre of civilians, this is what happens when Russia attacks. First there will be missiles and then everything else will start," he said.