A top military and NATO official warned businesses on Monday to prepare for a war situation, which could include adjusting production and distribution lines so they are not at risk of mistreatment from Russia and China.
Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of NATO’s military committee, told attendees of the European Policy Center event in Brussels that all available weapons can be used in wartime, according to a Reuters report.
“If we can make sure that all the essential services and supplies can be delivered no matter what, that’s an important part of our deterrence,” Bauer said.
He also said that NATO is seeing an increasing number of acts of sabotage while Europe has seen the same when it comes to its power supply.
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Rob Bauer, chairman of the military committee, has warned businesses to prepare for war as tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue. (Ore Huiying/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We thought we had an agreement with Gazprom, but actually we had an agreement with Mr. Putin. And the same for infrastructure and assets owned by China. We actually have an agreement with him. [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping],” Bauer told the group.
The west, Bauer explained, depends on materials from China, as 60% of all the world’s rare materials are produced, and 90% of those materials are processed there.
Also coming from China are chemical ingredients for sleeping pills, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and blood pressure medications, he further explained.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during their meeting in Beijing, China on Feb. 4, 2022. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/Kremlin pool photo via AP)
“We are naive to think that the Communist Party will not use that power,” Bauer said. “Business leaders in Europe and America must recognize that the trade decisions they make have strategic consequences for their national security.”
“Businesses need to prepare for war and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly,” he continued to emphasize. “Because although it may be the military that wins the wars, it is the economy that wins the wars.”
Bauer’s message comes as tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to escalate.
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An officer of the 24th Mechanized brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Army fired a 2s5 “Hyacinth-s” howitzer at the Russian front, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, near the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk. region, Ukraine November 18, 2024. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
Last week, Russia launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads, to Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials said the missile, named Oreshnik – Russian for Hazel Tree – reached a speed of Mach 11 when it hit a factory in the city of Dnipro on Thursday.
While two US officials told Fox News that the missile was not hypersonic, Pentagon Deputy Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday that the attack was about the first time the missile had been used on a battlefield.
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North Korea has also sent at least 11,000 troops to fight in Ukraine along with Russian troops, fueling tensions.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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