logo
Russia has plans to test NATO's resolve, German intelligence chief warns

Russia has plans to test NATO's resolve, German intelligence chief warns

Straits Times2 days ago

FILE PHOTO: The President of the German Federal Intelligence Agency (BND) Bruno Kahl attends the opening ceremony of the new BND (Federal Intelligence Service) headquarter in Berlin, Germany, February 8, 2019. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo
BERLIN - Russia is determined to test the resolve of the NATO alliance, including by extending its confrontation with the West beyond the borders of Ukraine, the Germany's foreign intelligence chief told the Table Media news organization.
Bruno Kahl, head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said his agency had clear intelligence indications that Russian officials believed the collective defence obligations enshrined in the NATO treaty no longer had practical force.
"We are quite certain, and we have intelligence showing it, that Ukraine is only a step on the journey westward," Kahl told Table Media in a podcast interview.
"That doesn't mean we expect tank armies to roll westwards," he added. "But we see that NATO's collective defence promise is to be tested."
Germany, already the second-largest provider of armaments and financial support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, has pledged to step up its support further under the new government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, promising to help Ukraine develop new missiles that could strike deep into Russian territory.
Without detailing the nature of his intelligence sources, Kahl said Russian officials were envisaging confrontations that fell short of a full military engagement that would test whether the U.S. would really live up to its mutual aid obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
"They don't need to dispatch armies of tanks for that," he said. "It's enough to send little green men to Estonia to protect supposedly oppressed Russian minorities."
Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea involved occupation of buildings and offices by Russian soldiers in unmarked uniforms and civilian clothes, who came to be known as the "little green men" when Moscow initially denied their identity.
Kahl did not specify which officials in Moscow were thinking along these lines.
Merz, who visited Donald Trump in Washington last week, pushed back against the U.S. president's assertion that Ukraine and Russia were like two infants fighting, telling Trump that where Ukraine targeted Moscow's military, Russia bombed Ukraine's cities.
Kahl said his contacts with U.S. counterparts had left him convinced they took the Russian threat seriously.
"They take it as seriously as us, thank God," he said. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Colombia's Petro threatens labor reform by referendum as congressional deadline looms
Colombia's Petro threatens labor reform by referendum as congressional deadline looms

Straits Times

time2 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Colombia's Petro threatens labor reform by referendum as congressional deadline looms

Placards in support of Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay of the opposition Democratic Center party, who was shot during a campaign event, are displayed at the Congress, on the day of a debate on a labor reform proposed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro's government, in Bogota, Colombia, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita Colombia President Gustavo Petro attends a group photo session before the opening ceremony for the China-CELAC Forum ministerial meeting in Beijing, China May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo BOGOTA - Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday signed a decree to hold a referendum on labor reforms, an attempt to force the Senate to vote on a proposal on the matter before their session wraps up later this month. The referendum proposal seeks to limit the working day, increase the surcharge for Sunday and holiday work from 75% to 100% and require social security payments for delivery app drivers. The Senate is currently debating a modified labor reform, after in May rejecting a 12-question version of the referendum in a tight 49 to 47 vote, which Petro later alleged was fraudulent. The legislature's current session ends on June 20. Petro and his interior minister, Armando Benedetti, said that if the reform passed, the referendum would be called off. If the referendum were to be held, each measure would need to be approved by the majority of at least 13.5 million voters, a third of Colombia's electoral roll, to be valid. Opposition parties have said Petro's decree is tantamount to a coup, violates the country's constitution and destroys the separation of powers of Colombia's three branches of government. Analysts have warned, meanwhile, that the decree could face legal challenges, including in the Constitutional Court. A majority of the social and economic reforms promised by Petro - who was elected in 2022 on pledges to right centuries of inequality in the Andean country - have been rejected by lawmakers. Colombia will hold legislative and presidential elections in the first half of 2026. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Zelensky says Russia seeks to disrupt Ukraine, Moldova, south-eastern Europe
Zelensky says Russia seeks to disrupt Ukraine, Moldova, south-eastern Europe

Straits Times

time2 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Zelensky says Russia seeks to disrupt Ukraine, Moldova, south-eastern Europe

Mr Zelensky said collective efforts were needed to keep Moscow from causing further disruption. PHOTO: REUTERS ODESA, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 11 Russia was determined to sow chaos in and destroy the south of his country as well as nearby Moldova and Romania, and called for increased pressure on Moscow to prevent further military threats. Mr Zelensky, addressing a conference of southeast European leaders in the Black Sea port of Odesa, said collective efforts were needed to keep Moscow from causing further disruption. "The security of south-eastern Europe and the Black Sea is indivisible... Today, we are forced to fight not only for our country, but also for this reality to become the cornerstone of a new regional policy," Mr Zelensky said on Telegram. "We are here in Odesa, a city that Russia wants to destroy, as it has destroyed countless other cities. Russian military plans are aimed at this region, and then at the borders with Moldova and Romania. We need protection now. But even more, we need long-term guarantees that this will never happen again." Odesa, site of three ports, has been a frequent target of Russian air strikes in three years of war. The city came under a massive drone attack on June 9 that targeted an emergency medical building, a maternity ward and residential buildings. Much attention has focused on a possible Russian threat to Moldova, where pro-European President Maia Sandu has accused Moscow of trying to destabilise her country and unseat her. Her Party of Action and Solidarity, which holds a majority in Parliament, faces a general election in September, the outcome of which could affect the president's ability to press on with a campaign to join the European Union in 2030. Ukraine has also started talks on EU membership. "For three decades, Russia has tried to keep Moldova poor and unstable in order to take full control of it," Mr Zelensky said. "If Europe loses in Moldova this year, it will embolden Russia to meddle even more in your countries' affairs, taking away your resources, your sovereignty, even your history." Ms Sandu told the conference that Moldova "knows just what hybrid war is and is prepared to share its experience". "Moldova is facing one of its most important elections. Russia wants to see Moldova turn away from Ukraine. More to the point, it wants to use Moldova against Ukraine and the EU." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Trump's tariffs are likely to outlast him
Trump's tariffs are likely to outlast him

Straits Times

time2 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Trump's tariffs are likely to outlast him

US President Donald Trump at the White House on June 9. The writer says support for the liberal trading order founded after 1945 has evaporated. PHOTO: DOUG MILLS/NYTIMES Effective opposition to US President Donald Trump's trade policies has yet to pop its head above the parapet. Old-school pro-trade types are sidelined – consoling themselves, perhaps, that the protectionist turn will reverse once the costs are clearer. Be patient, we tell ourselves: This, too, shall pass. Will it? I don't doubt that the policies will fail. By itself, however, that won't restore the pre-Trump era. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store