Italian three-star General (ret) Fabio Mini, former Chief of General Staff of NATO Southern Command, granted an interview to the Antidiplomatico webzine, in which he warns that Moscow is closer now to moving from its “Special Operation” to a formal declaration of war against Ukraine. “This is not a formal matter, as many think,” Gen. Mini emphasizes. “For Russia, the shift is substantial, and Putin knows it well, which is why he resists the insistence of his hawks. The mere talk of war for any serious state is a serious matter,” because it entails serious consequences for the country declaring it and its population. “A state at war must take exceptional measures even if it is a war that is intended to be fought at a low level. A state at war does not and cannot allow internal dissent, must waive many prerogatives and rights of citizens, must demand and demand sacrifices, must find the resources to support it and the international cover to avoid falling into the legal malfeasance that would add crime to the crime of war itself.”
Mini blasts NATO countries, which trampled their own treaties and entered a war against Russia, albeit not declaring it. “We are openly co-belligerent with Ukraine but no legal, economic or political measures have been taken to recognize that status. The supply of arms is an act of war, economic sanctions are acts of war to which Russia responds with as many acts of war, but the measures seem to be about a mere transitory conjuncture, as one might do in the case of a strike by distributors or transporters over the renewal of labor contracts.”
