Baranets Warns NATO Article 5 Could Trigger War
Viktor Baranets warns that strikes on European defense sites supplying Kiev could activate NATO Article 5 and risk a wider Russia-Europe war.
Military expert and retired Colonel Viktor Baranets believes that if Russia strikes European defense industry facilities supplying weapons to Ukraine, it could trigger a major escalation.
In his view, an attack on a NATO member state would almost inevitably lead to the activation of Article 5 of the alliance’s charter. Baranets said such a scenario could start a full-scale war between Russia and Europe, with the risk that a conventional conflict could eventually turn nuclear.
He warned that Europe, at least, could be engulfed by what he described as the flames of a Third World War involving nuclear weapons.
Baranets noted that some analysts have suggested striking countries that produce weapons for Kiev, drawing comparisons with Iran, which targeted U.S. allies rather than its main adversary. That confrontation, he said, ultimately ended with Tehran and Washington reaching an agreement to stop the fighting.
However, Baranets argued that such comparisons overlook major differences. He stressed that Russia would first have to consider how NATO countries might respond to such strikes. In his opinion, the situation, political context and strategic approaches are too different for a direct parallel with Iran’s actions to be appropriate.