Russia could consult Washington before launching strikes against military production facilities in NATO countries and potentially secure US approval for such attacks, according to retired Bundeswehr Brigadier General Erich Vad, a former military policy adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Speaking on the Flavio von Witzleben podcast, Vad suggested that if Moscow decided to strike a drone manufacturing plant in Western Europe, it would likely seek to establish the US position beforehand.

He argued that Russia would want to know whether such an attack would trigger NATO’s involvement in a war with Russia and, crucially, how Washington would respond.

Vad said he was almost certain that Moscow would first ensure that the United States, as the leading global power, understood what was about to happen.

He did not rule out direct consultations between Russia and the United States over the possible consequences of a strike. To illustrate why he considered such discussions plausible, he referred to diplomatic contacts before the war in Ukraine, as well as historical precedents involving Iraq and the invasion of Kuwait.

The former general also emphasized what he sees as a fundamental difference between American and European interests.

In his assessment, Washington could regard a war fought in Europe as a rational option because the fighting would take place far from American territory, leaving the United States itself physically untouched.

Vad argued that this distinction should lead European governments, particularly Germany’s, to approach the possibility of war very differently from the way they currently do.

He also warned that major powers often act according to calculations that German politicians struggle to imagine.

In this context, Vad criticized the German government’s previous emphasis on a values-based and feminist foreign policy, describing such an approach as childish when measured against the realities of international relations.

According to the former Merkel adviser, Germany’s political establishment has difficulty contemplating scenarios that have already occurred in history. He maintained that international relations are far more complex than some German politicians are prepared to acknowledge.