NATO 'will stand with Ukraine up to the day in which we will have them sitting around the table for a long-lasting peace', a senior official from the military alliance has told the BBC.
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO's military committee since January, added from an operational point of view he considered the Russia-Ukraine war was bogged down, and 'it was almost time to sit and talk because it's a waste of lives.'
Pointing to the fact that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had resulted in two more countries joining the Western alliance - Finland and Sweden - Adm Dragone described the war as a strategic failure for Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite recent slow, incremental advances by Russia on the battlefield.
'They will not get a friendly or puppet government like in Belarus. Putin will not succeed.'
Asked if European nations were prepared to keep going with supporting Ukraine's defense, he said they were. It was beneficial, he believed that they had had something of a wake-up call and were now taking charge of their own defense.
On Russia's recent announcement about long-range, nuclear-powered weapons, the admiral played down concerns by NATO, saying that it was a defensive nuclear alliance. 'We are not threatened by them,' he said, 'we are just ready to defend our 32 nations and our one billion people. We are a nuclear alliance.'
Adm Dragone foresaw that any potential future attacks could likely target the Baltic states but reassured that NATO's Article 5 would come into play, ensuring collective defense.
He concluded positively, stating the alliance remains cohesive and strong, pledging unwavering support for Ukraine until a lasting peace is achieved.
