German Foreign Minister: We’re ready to defend NATO

Amid the international tension following the continuation of the military operation in Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stressed the readiness of her forces to defend NATO countries when necessary.

She stressed from the European Foreign Policy Conference, on Tuesday, the need for better coordination between European countries on the type of weapons for their joint use.

The German official accused the Russian soldiers of committing terrible crimes in Ukraine, stressing that her country would execute Kyiv in its struggle against Moscow.

As for the gas pipeline explosion crisis, Baerbock saw that the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines shows the weakness of the allies in the face of what she called hybrid attacks.

Baerbock stressed the need to take more measures to protect infrastructure, including electricity, train lines, and internet cables.

These developments came against the backdrop of an unprecedented tension that was again triggered by the statements of the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, when he said that NATO is actually involved in the Ukrainian conflict, adding that this does not affect the goals of the special Russian operation that will be implemented until the end.

NATO announced the launch of NATO’s “fixed noon” nuclear deterrence exercises, on Monday, which were scheduled in advance with the participation of 14 countries and up to 60 military aircraft, to continue until October 30.

According to a NATO statement, the maneuvers will take place “over northwestern Europe”, in the airspace of Belgium and Britain, as well as over the North Sea, and combat weapons won’t be used in the exercises.

Tensions between Moscow and the West reached their highest levels due to the Russian military operation on the territory of the western neighbor, which has been going on for months.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly stressed that the member states of the defense alliance are united in supporting Kyiv, punishing Moscow and preventing the victory of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He also stressed more than once the freedom of any country to apply for NATO membership, while the Kremlin warned more than once of its expansion, which constitutes a national threat to Russia.