Josep Borrell: Western “military response” to a Russian nuclear attack “would annihilate” Moscow’s army

Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for foreign policy, sent a warning to the Kremlin on Thursday.

The High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy, Josep Borrell (photo article)warned on Thursday that a potential nuclear attack by Moscow on Ukraine would trigger a “military response” from the West so “strong” that it would “annihilate” the Russian army, which is why he asked to Russian President Vladimir Putin “not to bluff”, reports EFE, quoted by Agerpres.

”putin cannot afford to bluff. It must be very clear that we who support Ukraine – the EU and its member states, the USA and NATO – are not bluffing either. And any nuclear attack against Ukraine will provoke a response, not nuclear, but a military response so strong that the Russian military will be annihilated“, said Borrell at an event organized by the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium).

Borrell, who presented, on Thursday, the pilot project of the European Diplomatic Academy through which the EU bloc wants to train its own diplomats, expressed his concern about the fact that there are still five countries (including Russia – no EFE) who rejected on Wednesday in the UN General Assembly the resolution condemning the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia, and 35 others, including China, South Africa and India, abstained from voting.

Borrell: “We must continue to act“

”About 20% of the global community decided neither to support nor to reject Russian annexations. In my opinion, there are too many. We are satisfied because the glass is quite full, but it is still a little empty. We must continue to act so that the world rejects this war even more clearly“, said Borrell, who admitted that diplomacy often means not only values, but also interests and dependence on Moscow.

The European Diplomatic Academy project aims to train future EU diplomats in fields such as foreign policy and the security of the EU bloc. They would acquire the necessary skills and abilities to “promote and effectively defend the principles and interests” of the community club on the international stage.

In front of the students of the College of Europe, Borrell declared himself a supporter of the reform of the Foreign Ministries because the border between “what is internal” and “what is external” is increasingly blurred. The head of European diplomacy explained that the future diplomats of the European Union will be forced to carry out their work “in a new security order” and it remains to be seen how Russia will integrate into this order, once the war is over.

“Be aware of the world we live in, how hard it’s going to be”

”Be aware of the world we live in, how hard it will be. I hope that by the time you reach diplomacy the war will have ended, but (…) after this war there will be a period of instability. Post-Putin Russia in this world order is a topic on which people working in diplomacy will have to put a lot of effort”, he appreciated.

For the pilot phase of the European Diplomatic Academy, 42 young diplomats were selected who will participate in a nine-month program at the campuses of the College of Europe in Natolin (Poland) and Bruges (Belgium), during which they will visit “regularly “various European institutions, but also other “relevant organizations” for EU diplomatic action, such as NATO.

The participants in the pilot project come from both member countries and partner countries, such as Ukraine, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Turkey or the states of the Western Balkans.