Nato fighting Putin is matter of when, not if as hes hell bent on escalation, former UK general warns – The Independent

The Nato security alliance faces a stark choice between fighting Putin now or fighting him later, a former senior British military chief has said.

Retired army general, Sir Chris Deverell, revealed he has changed his mind about a no-fly zone over Ukraine and now believes it could be necessary. If imposed it would put Nato aircraft in direct conflict with Russian planes.

Sir Deverell, who until his retirement in 2019 was in charge of military intelligence, cyber and special forces, said that Putin seems hell bent on escalation.

He said: I have been against the imposition of a no-fly zone by Nato in Ukraine, believing that it would surely escalate the conflict.

But Putin seems hell-bent on escalation. So the question is becoming: does Nato fight him now or fight him later?

He added, in comments made on Twitter, that the no-fly zone should only be imposed if the West were willing to back it up with on the ground troops.

Sir Deverell added that Putin will likely respond with nuclear threats, but said that his threats were likely to be meaningless.

He said: Whatever he can do to us, we can do to him.

Former general Sir Chris Deverell, in his role as Commander of Joint Forces Command, with then Prime Minister David Cameron in 2016.

(Getty Images)

The risk of course is that Putin is sufficiently mad to prefer a (very!) high scoring draw to a defeat, he said. But a) many of those around him may not be equally invested in his plans, and b) there are still possible outcomes that he need not admit as defeat.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on Western leaders to impose a no-fly zone, warning that this will become Europes problem if the US and Nato countries dont act.

So far Mr Zelenskys calls for a no-fly zone have been met with stiff resistance in the US and the UK because it would mean a direct military conflict with Russia.

A residential building is destroyed by shelling in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

(EPA)

British defence secretary Ben Wallace has also argued a no-fly zone would not help Ukraine militarily as it would tip the balance in favour of the Russian troops on the ground.

Republican senator Marco Rubio recently said that setting up a no-fly zone would start World War III.

However Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the UK defence select committee, has argued that a no-fly zone should be imposed to prevent barrel bombs being dropped.

Protesters call for a no fly zone to be imposed over Ukraine at a rally in New York

(AFP via Getty Images)

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraines former president, has said that military aircraft should be supplied to his country so that Ukrainian pilots can defend their skies.

He told Sky news: We need to be united. This is not a war against Ukraine, this is a war against the whole West. Against US, against Europe, against the UK.

We need a plane - a military jet. Im absolutely confident we have no other way out. We like to have the plane now because we need to protect our airspace.

The countries Ukrainian refugees are fleeing to

(Press Association Images)

We dont need now the American pilots, we dont need now the American soldiers - just give us the opportunity to protect you.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba urged Nato to impose a no-fly zone on Monday, saying: We heroically repel attacks of the Russian armed forces on the ground. However we do have issues with the skies.

And The Russian air force dominates in the skies, and continues bombing our cities and killing many civilians.

Mr Kuleba added: We believe that the rejection of the no-fly zone is based on the lack of confidence in the strengths of Nato as an alliance, because the military might of Nato is bigger compared [with] Russia.

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Nato fighting Putin is matter of when, not if as hes hell bent on escalation, former UK general warns - The Independent