On Thursday night, Vladimir Putin and Russia shook the rest of Europe. In a speech without clutter in reality, the Russian president accused Ukraine of being led by neo-Nazis, and demanded that the country’s leadership be held accountable. At the same time came the first reports of explosions in several Ukrainian cities, and Europe is now in its biggest war in decades. The development of the night surprised Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen.
– Russia was ready to carry out a major invasion, but I am surprised that it happened now, and that they go as far as they do by perhaps attacking Kyiv. We do not yet know what the final situation will be, but there is an obvious war in Europe, says Kristoffersen.
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– A plane belonging to the Ukrainian air force was shot down without Kyiv on Thursday, according to the authorities, the Russians are behind it. Photo: STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE via Reuters
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Putin’s dream is not coming true
Although Putin may in a few days overthrow the Ukrainian government in favor of a regime loyal to Moscow, Kristoffersen does not believe that the Russian president has achieved what he wants – quite the contrary. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could potentially lead to a more divided Europe, Western countries are instead more united than in a long time.
– NATO shows a strong unity. In many ways, Putin has achieved the opposite of what he wants, because we have an even stronger unity within NATO, says the Chief of Defense.
He points out that NATO is now implementing plans and contingency measures that make the alliance even more prepared to defend itself in the event of a conflict. Kristoffersen therefore sees it as extremely unlikely that the war in Ukraine will develop into a war on the continent.
– I think there is a very clear line, which neither NATO nor Russia wants to cross, namely that there will be a battle between Russia and NATO forces, Kristoffersen says.
– Kristoffersen thinks Putin is a maniac. Here, the president holds a corona-friendly meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron earlier in February. Photo: PUTNIK / AFP
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Tsar Vladimir
Kristoffersen believes that Putin’s recent actions give cause for concern, and believes that the Russian president has a distorted perception of both himself and the world.
– Putin is an obvious megalomaniac. The way he treats his own, like when he put his own intelligence chief in deep embarrassment, the way he holds meetings with these huge tables that provide more than good enough corona distance between himself and the others, and also the way he conducts conversations with his own, it suggests a person who sees himself as a self-willed tsar in Russia, points out the defense chief.
On Thursday night, the fighting continues to ravage Ukraine, and Russia is constantly taking control of new regions. At the same time, there are reports that Ukrainian forces are giving the Russians fierce resistance, and Kristoffersen believes that the development in the next few days will depend on one thing in particular.
– It remains to be seen what will happen in the next few days. How far will Putin stand with what we might call an occupying force? It is obvious that he will be in the area around Donbas east of the country, but how far west will he go? It has a lot to say for the resistance movement we will see from Ukrainian forces, which will be massive, the defense chief concludes.
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