NATO has unpleasant surprise for Kremlin - Macierewicz

Polish Minister of National Defense Antoni Macierewicz said this in an interview with U.S. media outlet Observer.

"Putin understands that there is no empire without Ukraine. But he made a major mistake: thanks to Putin, American troops are now close to the Ukrainian border, and he probably lost Kyiv! This has never happened since the 17th century," Macierewicz said.

He said that the Russians are ready for war and therefore NATO needs to be ready too. 

"We are running late. It's a problem. But things are going in the right direction and NATO has shown its ability to adapt during the Warsaw Summit in 2016. I think it was a very unpleasant surprise at the Kremlin, they didn't expect this," Macierewicz said.

He did not rule out that Russia could plan a war and that "the first move" could be Ukraine.

He said it was also possible that Russia could distract American attention by heating up tension in the Far East and creating favorable conditions for aggression in Europe. Macierewicz said that Russia was always helping the enemies of the United States, maintaining deep ties with North Korea, supporting Iran and interfering in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria.

He noted that he did not like Communists and Putin's people and that they did not like him.

"They are afraid of me and want to 'kill' me using propaganda tools," Macierewicz said. 

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