Munich Security Conference

We should not underestimate Putin, says NATO’s Benedetta Berti

We should not underestimate Putin, says NATO’s Benedetta Berti | Global Stage | GZERO Media

The war in Ukraine may not have gone the way Vladimir Putin expected, but his objectives remain the same.

“I don’t think we underestimated Russia’s strategy and what they were planning in Ukraine … If anything, maybe at the beginning we had overestimated the Russians’ military capabilities,” says Benedetta Berti, NATO’s policy planning chief, during a Global Stage livestream conversation hosted by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft at the Munich Security Conference.

NATO has strengthened its defense posture while reinforcing its deterrence, and Ukrainians have broken the myth of Russian invincibility. But, she adds, it would be a strategic mistake to underestimate what Russia can do in the future.

Watch the full Global Stage Livestream conversation here: Is there a path ahead for peace in Ukraine?

More For You

Competitive pay. 401(k) contributions upon employment and 6% company match once eligible. Up to 16 weeks of combined paid maternity and parental leave. These benefits and more inspire generations – Daidrian’s 18-year Walmart journey motivated her son Jonothan to launch his own career as a Walmart associate. Learn more.

Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party march toward parliament on the opening day of its monsoon session, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks, in New Delhi, India, 20 July, 2026.
REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

In New Delhi, thousands of protesters are marching to Parliament today to demand the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a growing scandal surrounding the leak of a high-stakes med school entrance exam in May