NATO top brass issues 4-word warning to Putin as WW3 fears soar

NATO's most senior military officer has delivered a four-word warning to Vladimir Putin over his ongoing war in Ukraine. Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO's military committee, said "Putin will not succeed" as he stressed the alliance stands united behind Kyiv amid rising tensions.

The Italian officer stated that the full-scale conflict, which is approaching its fourth anniversary, has been a strategic failure for the Russian leader. Moscow's forces are making incremental gains on the front line in eastern Ukraine, however, continue to suffer high casualty rates. British intelligence last month said it was likely Russia has sustained 1.118 million casualties since 2022, with around 332,000 this year alone.

Admiral Dragone told the BBC he believes the war, from an operational perspective, has become bogged down and that "it was almost time to sit and talk because it's a waste of lives".

US-led efforts on ending the war have largely stalled with President Donald Trump growing increasingly frustrated with Mr Putin.

Reports last week claimed a meeting between the two leaders in Budapest, Hungary, had been cancelled by Washington over Russia's strict conditions for ending the war.

The summit had previously been shelved, with Mr Trump saying he would only meet Mr Putin if he knew a deal could be agreed.

Admiral Dragone, who is the principal military adviser to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, said the alliance is ready to stand with Ukraine "up to the day in which we will have them sitting around the table for a long-lasting peace".

Russia has often rattled the nuclear sabre and recently announced it had tested two nuclear-capable weapons.

It claims the Burevestnik cruise missile has an almost unlimited range, with Mr Putin hailing it as "invincible".

The other new weapon is the 'super-torpedo' Poseidon which experts say could trigger radioactive ocean swells., with Russian mouthpieces claiming it could "sink" the UK underneath "radioactive tidal waves".

Admiral Dragone told the BBC "we are not threatened by them", stressing NATO is a defensive but nuclear alliance.

The senior official said the 32-member nation alliance is aligned and on the same page, saying "there is a cohesion which is our centre of gravity".

In a warning to Russia, he added: "The alliance is stronger than our adversaries, and we will stay with Ukraine up to the day that peace will break out."