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A Possible Direct Clash between Russia and NATO Would Begin with Air Battles and Ukraine Calls for Italian Weapons for the Counteroffensive
For weeks now, Kremlin spokesmen have feared an imminent direct confrontation with NATO on the basis of the intensification of relations between Western countries and Ukraine. From Moscow come more or less veiled threats to NATO member countries that would be guilty of worsening the conflict through the increasingly massive dispatch of weapons to Ukraine and support in the training of soldiers by better prepared Western nations. The limit, according to Putin, is about to be passed and any nation currently supporting Ukraine will be considered hostile and susceptible to attack.
In recent weeks, rumors of an international escalation of the war situation have also increased due to fears by Ukraine of a Russian attack on the Kakhovka dam, defined by both sides as a catastrophe due to the relative consequences. The Russians, however, deny that it is their intention to destroy such an important dam both in terms of energy and geology for the whole area and accuse Ukraine of having planned an attack on the dam to provoke NATO’s reaction causing a war which at that point would be total.
European intelligence seems to confirm concerns about a worsening of the situation and records strange moves by the Kremlin that do not bode well. It seems that Putin has ordered the construction in a short time of underground hospitals in the basements and bunkers in all the Russian territory and especially in the areas near the western border in addition to the conscription also for women, to make up for the lack of human resources in the war mobilization already invoked for months. International analysts see in these operations the clear intention on the part of Russia to do everything possible to be prepared for the worst, represented by an acceleration of the conflict in Ukraine and an international war development.
According to an important European source, in the coming weeks there will be a continuous exchange of mutual accusations between Russia and Ukraine up to any military events which, inevitably, will trigger a reaction from NATO that will lead the level of war rising up quickly to a world conflict scenario that has been prospected for many months now and which should absolutely be avoided for obvious reasons. The probable alternative would see Russia in a constant waiting situation with small reprisals against Ukraine up to a diplomatic confrontation capable of establishing the conditions for an, at least, temporary but, at this point very unlikely, peace.
Europe continues to have a cautious attitude towards the Kremlin and the initiatives taken by the United States, a NATO leader, trying to mitigate the threats that continually rebound between the two countries. Italy has so far demonstrated its clear intention to contribute, together with other Western nations, to the strenuous defense of Ukrainian territories, providing weapons, means and training but, Ukrainian Prime Minister Zelensky is clamoring for even more weapons and, above all, the supply of advanced air defense systems that can help the Ukrainian military to defend itself against air attacks, considered very likely in the event of an escalation of the ongoing conflict. Italy, at this juncture, is awaiting the moves of its European partners and is still available for any action that can contribute to the success of the defense of the territories invaded by the Russians. Diplomacy remains the main preferable route in litigation but, according to the latest developments, it may not be enough and it is essential to try to predict the moves that will be made by the nations currently in conflict to plan the right future counter-moves by the whole West.