Bundeswehr Chief: In 'No Circumstances' Will NATO Send Troops to Ukraine as Kiev Eyes Guerrilla War

In the weeks since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, the US and NATO have made statements regarding the bloc's involvement. All of them boiled down to concerns that military intervention would most likely lead to World War III. Thus, the bloc stood limited to sending humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.

Inspector General of the German Army, the Bundeswehr, Eberhard Zorn, has stated that there is no scenario in which NATO forces will be sent to Ukraine, where Russia is currently conducting a special military operation.

In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt published on Saturday, Zorn, when asked if NATO would consider intervention in Ukraine if Russia used weapons of mass destruction against the Eastern European country, said no.

According to the general, "what both the German federal chancellor as well as US President Joe Biden have said" still applied, as "under no circumstances will we deploy our own forces to Ukrainian territory".

Moreover, Zorn stressed that the current crisis in Ukraine has shown European militaries, and especially German forces, that its military capability and defence strategy should be upgraded. He said that since the 2014 events in Ukraine and Crimea, "we began to realign the Bundeswehr to national and alliance defence".

According to the top general, the German Army does not want solely to upgrade what it already has, but to "fully equip" itself. So, the government has allocated a total of 100 billion euros for the purpose.

Asked whether Germany needed an anti-missile defence system similar to Israel's Iron Dome, Zorn noted that the nation's three-level defence system relies on American patriot missile systems that require modernisation. In addition, Western Europe remains unprotected from the potential use of Iskander missiles stationed in Russia's Kaliningrad region.

"So far, only one thing is clear: we have neither the time nor the money to develop these systems ourselves", he admitted, adding that he supports buying ready-made systems from the US or Israel.

However, Zorn said that the German military sees no "signs" of a Russian invasion against NATO member states. He added that the military alliance has time to "strengthen" its eastern flank.

"By around the end of May, we will have set up the necessary battle groups in all states from the Baltic to the Black Sea", he said.

Germany also plans to provide NATO with a fully modernised and equipped division of 15,000 service members who will be "trained, equipped, and thus ready for action" by 2025, according to Zorn.

Notably, the German general went on to claim that Russia's military operation in Ukraine had been poorly planned, with commanders making strategic and logistical mistakes, adding that he had no explanation for those alleged flaws.

Zorn said he expected that in the foreseeable future, the Ukrainian conflict would gradually devolve into guerilla warfare, but such developments would result in even more civilian casualties, as he recalled the situation in Mariupol in eastern Ukraine.

"Kiev is preparing for the tactics of such a war: for urban combat with the [use of] infantry", he stated.

When asked whether Ukraine had a chance against Russia, Zorn declined to guess on the conflict's conclusion at this time. According to the German general, one thing that the military sees taking place is the frontline division of Ukraine splitting into two parts, resulting in a stalemate.

He noted that he sees no signs of the retreat of Russian troops, and noted the tactical nature of the fighting on the part of the Ukrainians.

On 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to an appeal by the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. He stressed that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, and that the goal is the demilitarisation and "denazification" of the country.

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