A NATO official said the alliance will have to take action if Russia uses chemical and nuclear weapons

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Guyana He said in an interview The Associated Press reported that the group would respond if Russia used chemical or nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine.

“NATO is a defense alliance, but it is also a nuclear alliance,” said Giwana, who is also Romania’s former foreign minister and ambassador to the United States. “If they were to use chemical weapons or other types of advanced systems against Ukraine, this would fundamentally change the nature of the war that Putin waged against Ukraine.”

“I can guarantee that NATO is ready to respond in proportion,” Jiwana added.

Geoana did not explain to the AP what those measures might be, but his comments come as Russian officials have refused to say Russia would not use chemical or nuclear weapons in its invasion.

Russia has become even more desperate as the war has dragged on for more than a month, as Russian forces previously believed they would capture Ukraine within days.

“Mr. Giovana probably believed that Putin believed his own post-imperial fantasies, believing that the Ukrainians would welcome them with open arms. In fact, they encountered very fierce resistance. We are convinced that today, even as reinforcements continue to arrive in Ukraine, Ukraine does not have Russia’s forces and the ability to occupy all of Ukraine.”

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the international community responded with harsh sanctions and private companies withdrew their business from Russia.

Geoana said the Russian president Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin The Pentagon: Russia has lost partial control of the first Ukrainian city to be captured Ukraine, Taiwan and the two Koreas: Is the world tilting toward major wars? Russian ambassador sues Italian newspaper over article referring to Putin’s death More He did not count “the courage of the Ukrainian army” and the “political unity of the West” when he decided to start this war, according to the Associated Press.

NATO estimates that more than 40,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, wounded or captured since the invasion began.

“We see that at the moment, Russian military planning is trying to reassess the situation – to try to make up for the heavy losses in people and materials that they suffered in the first month of the war,” Jiwana said.

NATO countries provide humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, but have refrained from implementing a no-fly zone or giving fighter planes as the alliance sees these moves as making countries directly involved in the fighting.