Former US General: NATO Will Refuse to Provide Weapons if Ukraine Does Not Fight
(Baonghean.vn) - Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said that NATO member countries will refuse to provide weapons in the future if Ukraine does not mobilize enough people and refuses to fight.
According to RT on May 6, retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former Commander of the US Army in Europe, said that if the majority of Ukrainians do not want to serve in the army, do not want to hold guns and fight, then the risk of Kiev losing Western aid is very high. General Hodges expressed surprise when he learned that the military age in Ukraine is currently 27 years old, and only recently, this age was lowered to 25. Meanwhile, General Hodges said that the military age in most European countries, as well as in the US, starts at 18 or 19 years old.
Earlier, on May 5, NATO drew a "red line" regarding the alliance's intervention in the conflict in Ukraine. The first factor for NATO would be "direct or indirect intervention by a third country" in the conflict. Observers said that the possibility of Belarus' direct involvement could not be ruled out. Because Belarus and Ukraine have a long and vulnerable border. Russian armed forces are capable of breaking through in the northwest and creating a corridor between Ukraine and Belarus.
The second element of the red line could be a “military provocation” against Poland or the Baltic states, as well as military actions against Moldova.
NATO is currently holding its largest military exercise since the Cold War. Exercise Steadfast Defender involves some 90,000 troops from all 32 NATO member states and 1,100 pieces of equipment.
The exercise, which is being held near the Russian border, began in January and is expected to last until the end of May.
Responding to this exercise, the official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova emphasized: "We must admit that NATO is seriously preparing for a potential conflict with us"./.
