A NATO boss has issued a horrifying warning as its told Russia ‘could strike London’.
Fears of World War Three have been intensifying recently as the organisation was warned Vladimir Putin might target a major Western European city next.
These stark warnings come as tensions with the nation escalate, particularly following the incident in Poland last week, when Russian drones were launched into Polish airspace.
The nation had claimed it had not planned to target territory in the country, and NATO jets had shot them down in what marked the first defensive action of its kind since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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And as Ukraine’s UN representative, Andriy Melnyk, suggested that the next target could be closer to home, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has echoed it.
The boss said it’s wrong to assume that life in Western Europe is significantly safer than in the cities on the alliance’s eastern flank.
He explained that the newest missiles from Russia travel at five times the speed of sound, meaning they could be in the UK in between five and 10 minutes longer than it would take to reach Estonia’s Tallinn or Lithuania’s Vilnius.
“Of course, the problem is, this is about the eastern flank, because here is a direct threat to the eastern flank from, for example, drones or whatever, could threaten our Allies on the eastern flank,” he said.
“But more generally speaking, you know, I don't like that whole eastern flank thinking, because it gives the impression that if I live in Madrid or in London, I am safer than when I live in Tallinn.”
He then added to the NATO members: “So, in that sense, let's agree that within this Alliance of 32 countries, we all live on the eastern flank.”
Similar to Rutte’s warning, Melnyk warned that if Russia’s escalation remains ‘without a decisive response’ from NATO, then the nation ‘will not stop at Poland’.
“Tomorrow it could be drones or even missiles that fall on Berlin, Paris or London,” he said.
He also suggested it could potentially end up with the US being targeted, as he said: “And the next day something could even ‘accidentally’ fly across the Atlantic. Russia is not mocking this council. It is spitting in your face.
The envoy warned leaders that if the council cannot stop Russia’s escalation, ‘we will not be talking about regional instability’.
“We are staring into the abyss of a Third World War,” he added.
Jess Battison