Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's warnings about the potential for NATO to send peacekeepers into Ukraine come as an effort to "influence things and influence people's thinking" because the "war is going badly for Russia," former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker said Wednesday on Newsmax.
"We have to remember that Lavrov is not a decision-maker in Russia," as President Vladimir Putin "is the only guy that matters here," Volker, also a former special representative to Ukraine, said on Newsmax's "National Report."
"Lavrov is out there to project Russian propaganda."
Poland last Friday said it plans to formally submit a peacekeeping mission proposal for Ukraine at the next NATO summit, drawing warnings not only from Lavrov but others in Putin's government including Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said doing so "would be a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision."
"The war is going badly for Russia," said Volker. "They are losing on the ground, slowly. They don't have the supplies, the fuel, or the food. They've had a lot of casualties that have to regroup, and that is making them more desperate."
What Russia wants to avoid, he added, is the chance that NATO or Western countries will support Ukraine or join in fighting the war, "so he's trying to warn us off of that in advance of this NATO meeting."
NATO and the West, Volker continued, should issue a warning of their own against those in Russia, to tell them if they use nuclear bombs or weapons of mass destruction of any kind, they will get "exactly what you don't want, which is for us to respond forcefully."
The alliance must also insist that it will continue to supply Ukraine so it can defend itself, said Volker, stressing that he doesn't think Russia will initiate any attacks on NATO countries because it does not want the wider war.
President Joe Biden will meet with NATO representatives Thursday in Brussels, and Volker said the gathering is a "crisis meeting that was called on an extraordinary basis" because of the war.
"The leaders will get together and have a focused conversation about Ukraine and about a NATO collective defense, rather than the kind of generic meetings that they often have," said Volker. "The first thing that they will do, and it's important, is to reaffirm that NATO stands by the defense of its members, whether it's Poland or the Baltic states, Bulgaria. Any attack on them will be met with a response by all of NATO. That's a very important signal to send to Russia."
However, there is a risk that if the commitment to NATO is confirmed and Ukraine is not stressed, that would be a "green light to Putin" to say he has a free hand.
"I'd say there are three things we should say," said Volker. "One — that Ukraine's survival as an independent state is an interest of NATO. Two — that crimes against humanity, war crimes committed by Russia, will be registered and there will be individual accountability for Putin, the generals, the colonels, everybody who was committing war crimes in Ukraine. And thirdly — what I said before — any use of nuclear weapons will meet with a forceful response by NATO."
Note: See Newsmax TV now carried in more than 100 million U.S. homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Frontier Ch. 115, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, AT&T TV Ch 349, FUBO and major OTT platforms like Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto and most smart TV’s including Samsung+, Sony, LG, Vizio and more – Find All Systems that Carry Newsmax – Click Here
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.