April 20, 2023
Russia's war in Ukraine has dramatically raised the odds of a direct confrontation with NATO due to Western sanctions against Moscow. Russia now considers NATO to be its enemy, and vice versa, former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. In fact, Daalder explains, Russian military aggression is a very real and present danger.
That makes the current situation in some ways even worse than during the Cold War, when the United States and Soviet Union tried to find ways to coexist and set up arms control agreements.
But now all of that is gone. Russia has even walked away from New Start, the last nuclear weapons treaty between Washington and Moscow.For Daalder, who is also the president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the possibility of all-out war between the world's two nuclear superpowers is the highest it's been since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Watch the full interview on an upcoming episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, airing on US public television nationwide. Check local listings.
From Your Site Articles
- What We’re Watching: NATO members’ defense budgets, Social Security as a political weapon, China’s support for Sri Lanka ›
- What happens if Russia nukes Ukraine? ›
- Cuban Missile Crisis turns 60 ›
- How close are we to a second Cuban Missile Crisis? ›
- Podcast: NATO’s Russia problem: the increasing danger of military confrontation between nuclear powers - GZERO Media ›
- Russia vs. NATO: Heightened risk of war - GZERO Media ›
- NATO is "back to basics" defending Europe from an aggressive Russia - GZERO Media ›
More For You
Ukraine is bringing the war to Russia, challenging one of the conflict's biggest assumptions: that time is on Vladimir Putin's side. Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba joins Ian Bremmer to discuss whether the war is entering a new phase.
Most Popular
Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, before it dissolves ahead of the 2026 Israeli elections, in Jerusalem, Israel, on July 16, 2026.
REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israel’s parliament affirmed that the country will hold a national election on Oct. 27.
Several hundred Kyiv residents gather in front of Ivana Franka Theater to protest the dismissal of the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on July 16, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Justin Yau/ Sipa USA
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to remove Mykhailo Fedorov on Wednesday has not gone down well with the Ukrainian public.
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.