For General Michel Yakovleff, general officer of the French army, former vice-chief of staff of Shape, the supreme inter-allied command for NATO operations, the Ukrainian president “lost an opportunity to shut up”. Remarks in reaction to the position of Volodymyr Zelensky which contradicts NATO and Washington after a missile crashed Tuesday, November 15 in Poland. Whereas the allies accredit rather the thesis of a Ukrainian defense missile, Volodymyr Zelensky affirms that it is about a Russian machine.
“Volodymyr Zelensky complicates his life”continues the general. “He has a capital of sympathy but I don’t see why he rushed. It’s embarrassing for him vis-à-vis NATO and it opens up a real avenue for Russian propaganda”he explains.
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According to him, the fact that Volodymyr Zelensky wants to send experts to Poland is a mistake: “He can send all the experts he wants, it won’t change anything. The materiality of the facts will not be debatable”. He then details the course of the expertise which will check the debris found on the ground: “The experts will come to see the crater and the debris found in the ground and then the radar tracks of NATO planes, in particular Americans, which will trace the sequence of this particular missile.” According to him, the Ukrainian president’s request is misplaced: “Now is not the time to make this request. It is useless and it annoys for not much. He is very friendly and loved but there he is pushing a little hard”says the general.
NATO “will not go to war by accident”
Regarding NATO’s position, Michel Yakovleff believes that the Organization “was exemplary in his measure and in his composure”. “NATO will wage war if necessary, but it will not wage war by accident and even less by whim”, he adds. According to him, there is a process to follow: “We must first remove the doubt, we start with that after we can discuss the intentions. So yes, NATO is on the alert but that’s not why we are going to cross lines which, in the occurrence, have no place to be”.
And the general to clarify: “There is a decision-making process which is very standardized. It is in fact an iteration between the political and the military. The politician will start by defining his objectives, the military will tell him what kind of options are possible to fulfill his objectives. Politics expresses itself again then gives its orders and at the end and if necessary, we will trigger an operation”. For Michel Yakovleff it is only at this price that NATO is credible: “NATO is a real guarantee of seriousness. It is the adult in the madhouse, at present”he concludes.