US commander in Europe Ben Hodges looses it: says Vladimir Putin wants to destroy NATO

© AFP 2015/ ATTILA KISBENEDEK

The commander of the US army in Europe has spoken out in support of the military relationship with Britain, amid concerns it could be damaged by defence cuts.

"The US-UK relationship is as important as ever," Lt-Gen. Frederick "Ben" Hodges said. "The UK is our oldest ally and still a leader in NATO. I think the UK will live up to its leadership position."

He accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, of seeking to destroy NATO, and warned that Russia could seek to use the sort of "hybrid warfare" seen in eastern Ukraine against a NATO member to test the alliance.

"I am sure Putin wants to destroy our alliance, not by attacking it but by splintering it," he said in a speech to military and political leaders in Berlin.

© REUTERS

Notice the angry looking Putin picture The Telegraph chose to use.

He warned that Mr. Putin could try to destabilise a NATO member by using a rebel militia as in eastern Ukraine, or other forms of "ambiguous" warfare.

In the absence of an overt Russian attack, some NATO members could be reluctant to invoke Article 5 of the Washington treaty, under which an attack on one member is an attack on all.

"Once Article 5 is gone, our alliance is over," Gen. Hodges said.

He called for American tanks to be positioned in countries along NATO's eastern flank, as a deterrent to Mr Putin.

Just months after moving its last tanks out of Europe, the US has decided to send some 220 Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles back in response to the Ukraine crisis.

Gen. Hodges said he had proposed positioning some of the tanks in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria.

And the US has already agreed to send troops to Poland and the three Baltic states.

Gen. Hodges called for NATO countries to maintain defence spending in the face of the Ukraine crisis.

The chief of staff of the US army, Gen. Raymond Odierno, said he was "very concerned" earlier this week after David Cameron refused to commit to maintaining defence spending at NATO's agreed target of 2 per cent of GDP.

But Gen. Hodges said he was "sure" the UK would continue to meet the 2 per cent target.

"The UK is one of only four NATO members that currently meets its 2 per cent target," he said. "There are 24 that are already below, and many of them are well below." He described German military equipment shortages as "unacceptable".

"For the most powerful nation in Europe, which takes a leadership role in the EU, it is unacceptable to have helicopters that don't fly, or aircraft you can't use," he said Only 42 of Germany's 109 Typhoon fighters are available because of maintenance issues, alongside 38 of its 89 Tornado bombers.

German special forces had to pull out of a joint exercise because there was no working helicopter available for them, and it emerged recently that German troops used broomsticks instead of guns during a Nato training exercise last year.

In Ukraine, the US strategy is to "raise the cost for President Putin" by supporting Ukrainian government forces, Gen. Hodges said.

Europe and the US have been divided over American proposals to arm Ukrainian troops.

"We could give Ukraine 1,000 tanks and they would never invade Russia. No one expects Ukraine to defeat Russia, that's not the point," Gen. Hodges said.

"We have to raise the cost for Putin. Right now he has 85 per cent domestic support. But when mothers start seeing their sons come home dead, when the price goes up, domestic support goes down." A planned American mission to train Ukrainian troops has been put on hold to give the current peace process a chance to succeed.

Gen. Hodges accused Russia of having 12,000 troops inside eastern Ukraine.

"If you don't believe Russia is directly involved in Ukraine now, you'll never believe it. You don't want to believe it," he said.

He accused Russia of seeking to establish control of the mouth of the river Danube, which would give it a stranglehold over the economies of south-eastern Europe.

On Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Gen. Hodges said he believed the extremists were being funded from within the Arab Gulf states.

"ISIL are getting money, for sure, from some of our friends in the Gulf states. We need to find out who is supporting them, who is allowing the money through," he said.

On a strategy for dealing with ISIL, he was blunt.

"There are some people that need to be killed," he said.