'NATO must deter Russia for next 10 to 20 years'

The Manila Times

'NATO must deter Russia for next 10 to 20 years'  NATO will need to contain Russia for the next 20 years, the head of Estonian foreign intelligence said. Estonia, which is bordered by Russia and is a member of the alliance, has doubled its defense spending since the war in Ukraine began to 3.4% of its gross domestic product this year, the second largest proportion in NATO, and increased taxes from next year to purchase stockpiles of ammunition for defense. Director General Kaupo Rosin told Reuters on Dec. 17, 2024 that while it was hard for him to envisage Russia negotiating over Ukraine any time soon, he said Russia would be 'trying to limit NATO’s activities, NATO infrastructure and the troop presence in the vicinity of Russia,' including in NATO’s eastern flank states. President Vladimir Putin said on Dec. 19 that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with US President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities.  REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Sign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newsletters   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #themanilatimes #worldnews #nato #russia

Transcript

00:00The situation has not gotten better. The overall security situation in the region, in Europe,

00:04I think it is not the politics, it's actually Europe as such. The security situation is much

00:13more worrisome than it was before the large-scale invasion. We also understand that Russia's

00:21broader idea is to drive the US out of Europe and to reshape the European security architecture.

00:29These are their goals and we understand it.

00:36And let's say they are constantly pushing towards that

00:43at any cost, as it seems at the moment.

00:49Russians would like to make Ukraine a crumbled state, a crippled state.

00:58And again, here I see that the Russians would also like to negotiate this broader safety and

01:05security of Russian borders, which is not only Ukraine then, but it is also the NATO eastern

01:11flank, trying to limit the NATO activities, NATO infrastructure, NATO troop presence

01:17in the vicinity of Russia. So this is probably the Russian agenda with what they will show up,

01:23if they show up in negotiations. Russians are usually ready to negotiate if they perceive

01:32strength on the opposing side. Russia usually does not negotiate with weak

01:39opponents. They dictate to the weak opponents. So our plans must be credible, must be real,

01:47and must be backed up with real resource regarding troops present or follow-on units.

01:55This must be backed up with proper resource regarding ammunition, for example.

02:01The follow-on forces, or let's say support forces, must be selected, designated. They must exercise

02:10in the potential future operation areas. So this all comes as one package.

02:17If we do our homework properly, then we will be able to deter Russia. And in my view,

02:26NATO in the coming 10, 20 years, the main task will be to contain or deter Russia,

02:35so it doesn't get any stupid ideas to push towards the West militarily.

02:42I think it's doable, but it also needs that we take the issue seriously in the West,

02:54and that we also invest into the proper, let's say, categories. Commitments without investments

03:03are nothing. There are several threats. First is we have to avoid any situation where

03:11Estonia would become... a situation where it would be possible for China to blackmail us

03:19based on the leverage it would have over us, technologically, for example.

03:25This is one very important issue. The issue with the Chinese technology is that it's usually

03:30compatible only with another Chinese technological item. That's what I mean by blackmailing issue.

03:37So if there would be a situation where China would like to push us towards a political decision,

03:46for example, and we would have, let's say, some sectors which are technically

03:53in reality not under our control, that would mean all this equipment would be

04:00manipulatable from China, that's a situation we would also like to...

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