Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called Finland and Sweden's formal application to join NATO a "huge" development and a major defeat for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"It changes the geopolitics in Europe in a dramatic way," Gates told CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday.
"Now he's [Putin] got NATO on his doorstep, not only in Ukraine and elsewhere. He's going to have them on his border in Finland. And it's an amazing thing he's done because he's gotten Sweden to abandon 200 years of neutrality. So I think one of his many, huge miscalculations in invading Ukraine is he has dramatically changed the geostrategic posture of Western Europe. And now that you have the Swedes and the Finns as part of that, he's really put Russia in a much worse strategic position than it had before the invasion."
The applications are currently being reviewed by NATO's 30 member countries. If accepted, they could become members within a few months.
Gates also said that Putin's invasion of Ukraine could hurt Russia in many ways, mainly its economy.
"His invasion has weakened Russia and it's got now long-term economic problems. Europe, I think, is very serious at this point about weaning itself away from dependence on Russian oil and gas. So that will weaken Russia significantly," Gates said.
He also said he doesn't believe that Putin's plan to take over Ukraine entirely and absorb it into Russia will come to fruition. However, Putin can possibly annex certain strategic areas of Eastern Ukraine.
"He [Putin] has the potential to hold on to a good part of the Donbas. But I think in terms of pushing on to Odesa or trying to bring a change of government in Kyiv or absorb Ukraine, I think if that's winning, I don't see that he can win," Gates stated.
Gates also expressed doubt about China rescuing Russia's economy.
"China will want to remain diversified," he said. "They might buy some more Russian oil and gas, but nothing like what would be required to replace the European market. Putin will remain a pariah... He has put Russia really behind the 8-ball economically, militarily, and because now people are going to look at the Russian military and say, 'You know, this was supposed to be this fantastic military. Well, they give a good parade, but in actual combat, not so hot.'"
When asked if Putin would use a tactical nuclear weapon against Ukraine, Gates answered that the probability is low, but not zero, saying that "there are no large masses of Ukrainian forces that would be taken out by a tactical nuclear weapon. And if [there's no] military purpose, then the only purpose is as a terror weapon to try and break the will of the Ukrainian people. And I think that moment has come and gone. I don't think that there's anything at this point that will break the will of the Ukrainian people," and that a nuclear attack on Ukraine could send radiation into mainland Russia as well.
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