WATCH: Top NATO General Says Afghanistan Withdrawal Partially Responsible for Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine
NATO’s top general in Europe told lawmakers Wednesday the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer might have partially motivated Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.
U.S. intelligence officials at the Pentagon did not foresee the collapse of Afghanistan’s democratic government after NATO forces left last August. The chaotic pullout after two decades also saw 13 U.S. service members killed as the Taliban took full control of the country.
Gen. Tod Wolters, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, addressed a House Armed Services Committee Wednesday about the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) asked him why Putin waited until 2022, rather than any time after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, to invade.
“Why did Putin decide to invade Ukraine right now?” Banks asked. “Why not anytime between 2014 and 2022, why didn’t he invade, and why did he invade now?”
Wolters said he believed there were numerous reasons for the invasion, one of them being a notion there were divisions within NATO amid the “post-Afghanistan environment.”
“I think he felt like he had popular support of the citizens of Russia,” Wolters said. “I also felt like he was attempting to take advantage of fissures that could have appeared in NATO as a result of the post-Afghanistan environment.”
Wolters added he believes Putin’s “age and his efficacy” played a role.
The general concluded he felt support for war among the Russian people was a key factor.
“All those combined together put him in a position to where he elected to go at this time, but the overriding variable in my view is the fact that he believes that he has popular support with his citizens,” Wolters said.
The exchange followed a line of questioning from Banks about why NATO policies to deter Putin were unsuccessful.
NATO leaders have celebrated unity against Putin since he invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. President Joe Biden said last week NATO “is as strong and united as it has ever been.”
“Immediately after Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, we activated NATO’s defensive plans and the NATO Response Force,” Biden added.
Watch above, via C-SPAN.
