Iran Press/ Europe: General Sir Nick Parker, who served as commander of British land forces, told BBC Radio 4's Today program on Thursday that Russia had called NATO's "bluff" by launching an attack on its neighbor, according to Newsweek magazine.
His comments come as the UK Ministry of Defence warned they expect "heavy fighting" in the suburbs of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, despite Russia withdrawing some of its forces while shelling and missile attacks have continued in the Chernihiv region.
"Slightly controversially I suppose, NATO's been defeated, NATO's bluff was called," Parker said on Thursday morning.
"We were unable to stop the Russians trampling all over Ukraine and now NATO is holding the line of the 2004 expansion, along the line of the Baltic states and Poland and Hungary and Romania," the retired general said.
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"And what it has to do is to defend that line, it's in what in military terms we would call a defensive position," he went on. "And I don't think it has the capacity to move on to the offensive with its 30 nations all with slightly different views."
"We need to have a smaller coalition of nations who can start to develop an offensive counter-strategy to Putin," Parker said.
Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe, with a "goal to safeguard the Allies' freedom and security by political and military means," stated its website.
Its charter adds that an "attack against one Ally is an attack against all," embodying a "promise of collective defense."
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