30 Apr / 2024
The policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin in relation to Ukraine and other countries forced NATO to get stronger. This opinion was expressed by Gary Tabakh, the retired captain of the first rank of the US Navy, on the air of “Dom” and UA TV channels. He explained why Europe provided so few weapons to Ukraine, whether we should expect further provocations from the Kremlin, and how Putin influenced the strengthening of NATO.
Gary Tabakh explained why only a few dozen HIMARS are transferred to Ukraine:
“You see, the United States of America consists of 50 different small states rolled into one. A huge number of our population, people, citizens, for whom freedom and independence, American values, and human rights are not just empty words. And today we see that already 6 senators have gone around the White House. And now they are not demanding from the White House, but have gone directly to the Pentagon and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Department to provide the necessary weapons as soon as possible, which should be in Ukraine, which should have been provided even before the start of the war, in order to prevent it. To show that we will not allow it.”
Is the slow supply of weapons from Europe to Ukraine related to the fact that EU cannot give it anymore:
“Absolutely right. Europe has probably been demilitarized for the past 30 years. That is, there were even agreements on reducing not only nuclear weapons but also conventional, conventional weapons. And NATO, in principle, also no longer existed.
In Europe, there are no weapons. There are American, our weapons. But we, the United States, have always armed ourselves, built up our forces, and always prepared. Our troops are always involved in some kind of armed conflict. We have a fighting army.”
Gary Tabakh commented on the possibility of further provocations by the Kremlin in relation to NATO:
“I am convinced that you can expect anything from the KGB. They will provoke, captivate, and raise the stakes. This is such a mentality, somewhere gangster-slave one.
Yes, unfortunately, it didn’t last even since 2014. I think that it should have been understood back in 2008, or maybe even earlier, when the Chechens were being killed.
The whole world said that First Chechen War was an internal problem, Chechens were bandits, etc. Russian propaganda already worked that way then. But in 2008, we knew who we were dealing with. And in 2014, everything became completely clear.
But, again, the government was deployed. This is probably a problem or a disease of democracy, but it is still better than a dictatorship. That is how some countries or some people are sacrificed because of it. And now it’s Ukraine’s turn. So, of course, it is difficult.”
Putin’s coming to power stimulated NATO to development:
“A monument to Vladimir Putin will have to be erected at the NATO headquarters in Brussels because NATO practically collapsed before him. At that time, I was the chief of staff of NATO in Moscow. And I already felt that we had no work. In 2008, he gave us a second wind, and in 2014 we already understood that we had to prepare. But they did not prepare well.”
