Rasmussen: Russia's attack on Ukraine surprised NATO
NATO was surprised that Russia attacked Ukraine like it did, according to the former NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as stated in an interview with Radio Liberty.
"I don't think that we could have foreseen this. We were very surprised that Russia attacked Ukraine like it did. When I think about it in retrospect, I believe that in 2008, three months before Russia’s attack on Georgia, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, told us everything," Rasmussen said in answering the question, could the Alliance have prevented the attack on Ukraine.
"We just had to take it into account seriously. However, we all believed that Russia would be a strategic partner in the future. In November, 2010 at the NATO Summit, we decided to become strategic partners with Russia. Therefore, we did not believe that Russia would attack Ukraine," he stressed.
At the same time, according to him, in February, 2014 there was a totally new situation in Europe. Rasmussen stressed that Europe must somehow adapt to it.
It has been stated by NATO that they do not want a confrontation and all actions undertaken by the Alliance are defensive. As stated by the acting NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, "We do not want a new cold war. We will continue to seek constructive and meaningful dialogue with Russia."