Putin Ally Vows to Destroy NATO by 2030

Top Russian general Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechen forces fighting in Ukraine and an ally of President Vladimir Putin, has vowed that his country will destroy the NATO military alliance by 2030.

Alaudinov, who was appointed as deputy at the Main Directorate for Military and Political Work at the defense ministry by Putin, made the remarks during a state TV broadcast, where he spoke to Olga Skabeyeva, co-host of 60 Minutes, on channel Russia-1.

An excerpt of his appearance was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs.

Russian officials have regularly floated the possibility that Russia could strike NATO members in response to the aid and weapons they've provided Ukraine in the ongoing war.

"Apti Alaudinov, [Chechen leader Ramzan] Kadyrov's closest ally, recently appointed to a position in the Russian defense ministry, tells Russian propagandist Skabeyeva that Russia will wage a war for the rest of the decade and intends to destroy NATO," Gerashchenko wrote.

"Russia will win in this special military operation and on all other battlefields," Alaudinov told Skabeyeva, using the term adopted by the Kremlin to describe the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022.

"Yes, we will have to work hard until 2029-2030, but I can assure you that the outcome of this special military operation will be that the NATO bloc will cease to exist in the format in which it exists today," he said.

"Most of those states, who today are running after America like mutts, will kneel down and swear an oath to Russia, asking to be accepted into our coalition."

Alaudinov was named by Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta as a potential successor to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is reported to have been diagnosed with necrotizing pancreatitis five years ago. News of his illness "has prompted the Kremlin to look for his successor," the publication reported on Monday.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Putin in March dismissed any suggestions that his country could launch an attack on a NATO member.

"Their statements about our alleged intention to attack Europe after Ukraine is sheer nonsense," he said, noting that Washington's defense budget is more than 10 times Moscow's. "In view of that, are we going to wage a war against NATO? It's ravings."

Putin, however, has said since September 2022 that Russia would be prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend its "territorial integrity," declaring that "this is not a bluff." More recently, in February, he warned during his annual state of the nation address in Moscow that his strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness.

Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that if Kyiv were to be defeated by Russia, Putin could then invade NATO member Poland, potentially leading to World War III, the BBC reported.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said last week that he also believes a Russian victory in Ukraine could lead to World War III.

Should Kyiv be defeated in the war, "the global system of security will be destroyed...and all the world will need to find...a new system of security," Shmyhal said in an interview with the BBC in Washington, D.C.

"Or, there will be many conflicts, many such kinds of wars, and in the end of the day, it could lead to the Third World War," he added.

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