Russia-backed separatists seized control of the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk this week, with President Vladimir Putin ordering troops to serve as “peacekeepers” upon recognizing the two regions as independent states. A former intelligence official has warned that should Putin succeed in further invading Ukraine, he may target other countries in the continent.
Speaking on CNN Monday, James Clapper, who served as the US Director of National Intelligence in the Obama administration, warned that other European countries may be next for Putin to target should any further invasion of Ukraine succeed. Russia has since been sanctioned by the US and other nations following the invasion through Donetsk and Luhansk.
Host Wolf Blitzer pressed Clapper on whether Putin may look to target other eastern European countries, even NATO member nations following the invasion of Ukraine. Clapper explained that Putin is surrounded by advisers and officials who agree with his opinions and ideas. Clapper noted that there are other means for Putin to attack other countries, most, if not all, of which could be done through cyber means.
Blitzer cited the NATO clause that an attack against one country that is part of the alliance is equal to an attack on all the countries in the alliance. Clapper agreed.
“There are other forms of attack that Putin could use and all of it in the cyber realm, so I think – and the general information operations, misinformation, disinformation, those kinds of things that I think he would employ against former orbit – countries that were formerly in the Soviet orbit which he also feels very defensive about because he views them as unfriendly,” Clapper explained.
“so I don’t think just because of what happens in Ukraine, I don’t think it’s going to be the end of it, and I certainly don’t think that if he incorporates these two people’s republics into the larger Russian orbit that he’s going to stop, ” said the former intelligence official.
The European Union member nations have agreed on a package of new sanctions against Russia, according to the bloc’s policy chief. The 27 members of the EU unanimously came to an agreement on the sanctions during an informal meeting in Paris.
The sanctions the EU will impose will also target members of the Russian parliament who backed Putin’s decision to invade Luhansk and Donetsk in recognizing the regions as independent states. Asset freezes and visa bans would apply to 351 members of the Duma or the parliament in Russia.