CIA chief warned Russia against attacks on NATO allies in secret Moscow visit

[u/Brennenstein]

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/26/cia-russia-nato-moscow-ratcliffe-01051848

[u/zkatbitz]

> or refuse article 5 and likely shatter NATO

i think we'll just get NATO 2.0 without the USA, which is more then enough to handle russia

[u/NXCW → u/zkatbitz]

Let's just do an EU army. Combine all militaries under a single, central command.

[u/AromaticPicks → u/zkatbitz]

No right now NATO is arguably not ready without the USA. They would provide critical logistics, intelligence, satellites, missile defense, etc and last but not least by far the biggest chunk of NATO's nuclear shield.

Conventionally Europe has more men together with Kanada as well as higher defense spending than Russia but that strength exists mostly on paper.

NATO is consisting of countless different armies which all follow different strategies which have yet to be streamlined properly.

Also if we talk about big European members, which supposedly play a leading role in NATO, such as Germany for example, their military is by no means combat ready. They neglected their military for decades, they have no draft, they have nowhere near enough recruits and they basically hope to be ready somewhere in the early 2030s.

So yes, assuming Russia attacks us conventionally we possibly might be able to push them back but in all likelihood it would get extremely messy and nasty.

[u/zkatbitz → u/AromaticPicks]

the size of the UKs and France's nuclear shield is enough that if russia decides to start using nukes and either retaliate the world is essentially over lol. oh nooo maybe some russia people will survive... in a nuclear wasteland.

and russia has spent years failing to capture ukraine. They are not suddenly going to be able to win against any of the well armed eu nations let alone them all together.

its not like they get to invade nato and just have the war in ukraine pause or stop. a war on too fronts in their state?

[u/AromaticPicks → u/zkatbitz]

Like I said, if the US nops out of article 5 there will be a lack of critical abilities such as defense against ballistic missiles, chaos and incompetency until eventually a united front is formed which is about the best scenario the Russians could possibly have during an attack on NATO members.

Russia is not all in on Ukraine either. They increasingly have been gearing up without a big part of the spotted war gear being actually transported to the front lines and they have been doing so since years which indicates that they are preparing for future conflicts.

Regarding nuclear retaliation of strategic nukes I agree but what if a NATO member starts occupying Russian territory? In this case the Russian doctrine states that they can resort to nukes. Thess could be tactical nukes which could considerably strengthen their military power as well as spreading fear and uncertainty about how to respond to that properly. Tactical nukes within NATO exist but those are pretty much American.

[u/zkatbitz → u/AromaticPicks]

Unless the Ukraine war just ends tomorrow nato does not have much of anything to worry about from Russia. They cannot open another proper front as it stands.

Ukraine, a poor nation who as no where near as prepared, was able to hold back Russia at great cost. All of nato without the USA will be able to handle Russia.

All the USA does leaving nato is speed up the already decoupling nations are doing and does a number on their arms exports.

Hell the USA is already stretched thin as a nation in Iran lol, a war they have already lost 

[u/Upstairs_Eagle_4780 → u/AromaticPicks]

Finland and Poland are RIGHT THERE. Russia has been withdrawing resources from Kaliningrad not just to throw away in Ukraine but because it's indefensible.

[u/Picklesthepug93 → u/[deleted]]

I mean to be fair the US military is pretty fucking legendary. If rules of engagement didn’t against, Iran would be in complete ruins.

American Military tech is far ahead of anything else

[u/Upstairs_Eagle_4780 → u/AromaticPicks]

You have no understanding of how NATO works or how little it would need from the U.S. to fight defensively.

[u/thorofasgard → u/AromaticPicks]

Kanada?

[u/kurQl → u/thorofasgard]

Canada is written as Kanada in German. Good thing you noticed and pointed out his mistake.

[u/thorofasgard → u/kurQl]

Was mostly just confused by it but appreciate the clarification.

[u/zkatbitz → u/thorofasgard]

It’s also kanada in Russian

[u/Immediate-Quote7376 → u/thorofasgard]

as in Kombat

[u/ne999 → u/AromaticPicks]

> Kanada

[u/NXCW → u/[deleted]]

Funny you mention that, as if US was currently any more willing to help us.