A number of NATO member countries have joined forces to send German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Norway is among the countries that contributed theirs. The same is done in Germany, Finland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. Sweden and France are still considering hanging on, while the US is sending 31 of its Abrams models. Russian authorities consider the tank cooperation to be direct interference, and threaten nuclear war if the Ukrainians win on the battlefield. These are tanks of the type Leopard 2A4 Norway will send to the war in Ukraine. Norway has 36 pieces. At the same time, the war is getting closer to us. Russian media reports that Russian TU-95 bombers with cruise missiles took off from a bazaar in the vicinity of Murmansk, near the border with Norway and Finland. We ask the experts: When the war broke out almost a year ago, it was out of the question for Western powers to send tanks to Ukraine. Now they come from a number of NATO member countries. Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) tells news that Norway’s contribution is a consequence of the war’s development. – It also has something to do with how Russia’s brutality shows up in what we see happening in Ukraine, and the needs that the Ukrainians have now reported, he says. – In the future, to a greater extent than what we have done, we must draw from our own stocks and our own capacity because the need for support to Ukraine is now the most pressing, and it is also important for our security that Russia does not win in Ukraine. Damage after a Russian missile attack on Kyiv on 26 January. Photo: Roman Hrytsyna / AP Senior researcher at NUPI, Karsten Friis, tells news that this is a clear reaction on the part of the NATO members. – One has seen Russian warfare proceed with a lot of war crimes, murder of civilians, deliberate bombing of civilians. – It has probably made Western leaders realize that this war cannot be ended by some kind of peace negotiations. One is forced to help Ukraine win, and actually the sooner the better. Head teacher at the Staff School, Geir Hågen Karlsen, says that there are no large forces in the vicinity of Norway, as the situation is now. – Our lawyers have carefully assessed NATO’s involvement, and we are not part of the war, even if we support Ukraine with material. Geir Hågen Karlsen is head teacher at Staff School. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news He believes that Russia is now trying to split countries in NATO that are not agreed on how much to interfere, at the same time that the governing authorities want to strengthen morale within the country with such strong language. Friis believes there has been a development on the western side. Just a year ago, it was out of the question for Western powers to send tanks to Ukraine. Now they come from at least six countries in Europe, with a thumbs up from a major power that has so far been reluctant to contribute weapons, i.e. Germany. Ukraine has managed to hijack some Russian tanks on the battlefield. This is of the T-72 type, which is weaker than the Leopard 2. Photo: Aleksandr Shulman / AP Closing the airspace to Russian aircraft, for example, is still out of the question. It is also not likely that it will be taken up again, he believes. – That would mean that we, i.e. NATO countries, get involved directly in the war. Despite the fact that we deliver a lot of weapons, it is not our soldiers who are inside fighting. – If a no-fly zone were to be implemented, it would also have to lead to us shooting down Russian planes, and that is not relevant. According to Hågen Karlsen, there is at least no threat to Norway, as Russian forces are now positioned. – In our immediate area, there are almost no army forces left at Kola by Kirkenes, for example, because they have been deployed in Ukraine, he says. – They do not have any forces there to attack us and similar other places along the borders with Russia. Storskog border station is around three hours’ drive from Murmansk, where TU-95 bombers are said to have been shot down on Thursday. Photo: Amund Trellevik/news Karen-Anna Eggen researches, among other things, Russian information confrontation at the Department of Defense Studies. She says the tanks will not do much for the relationship between Russia and NATO, but that what you see is the result of an “enormous rhetorical offensive” on Russia’s part. Karen-Anna Eggen is a researcher at the Department of Defense Studies. Photo: Nuno Duarte / news – Russia is clearly not interested in Ukraine receiving heavier arms support. We can see that in the huge rhetorical offensive they have launched. Nuclear war, third world war, world annihilation. Nevertheless, she believes that it is still not in the Russians’ interest to directly confront NATO, because it is a confrontation that Russia cannot win. – It is more likely that they carry out some kind of sabotage operation or something that is just below the threshold to trigger Article Five of the NATO pact, she says. – It could be of the same type as we saw in the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines, or in massive cyber attacks. Activity that is difficult to trace back to Russia. Last week, an ally of Putin warned that if Russia loses on the battlefield in Ukraine, it could lead to open nuclear war, according to Reuters. Among other things as a result of this, the Doomsday Clock was put forward ten seconds, which is the closest it has been since it was introduced in 1947. Eggen says that the nuclear threats from the Russian side are a deliberate intimidation strategy, which has been used against the West since the war started. The doomsday clock is set to 90 seconds before midnight as a result of the war in Ukraine. Photo: ANNA MONEYMAKER / AFP The chance is still very small, and the decision to send the tanks to Ukraine will not trigger nuclear missiles from Russia, she believes. Nevertheless: – The rhetoric works because nuclear weapons are naturally very frightening. The probability, as both NATO’s Secretary General and several others say, is not zero, and that is serious enough in itself. – I’m not going to say whether it will happen or not, because there is only one person who knows, and that is Putin himself, but it is important to consider that they are using the nuclear threat rhetoric for all it’s worth against Western supporters , and Ukraine not least. Former diplomat and NATO ambassador Kai Eide tells news that Norwegian experts often underestimate the danger of escalation on the Russian side. He believes that a sober analysis of how the Russian leaders think is often lacking. – It is important to assess what a possible Russian reaction might be, says Eide. But he emphasizes that he agrees with the support that Norway and other western countries now give Ukraine. CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this case, there was a quote that said it was by Guri Melby. This was in fact taken from an article by Nupi researcher Julie Wilhelmsen in Aftenposten, and was presented as such due to an editing error. The sentence has now been removed.
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Is NATO at war? Experts answer about Russia and the tank alliance – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
