The call from the side gate guardroom was a curious intrusion into the otherwise routine calm of NATO Headquarters. “Chief,” the voice reported, “an old man wants to meet the Chief of the Joint Operations Room.”
The Chief of Staff, a veteran of countless briefings and strategic discussions, paused. The Joint Operations Room had been a Cold War-era command center, decommissioned two decades ago. He was skeptical, but a strange sense of unease prompted him to investigate personally.
At the side gate stood an old man, his face a roadmap of a bygone era, leaning on a cane. “I worked here for 15 years,” he announced, “as a member of the Joint Operations Room staff.”
“Do you have an ID card?” the Chief asked, following protocol. “Or an identification code?”
The man shook his head impatiently. “Now is not the time for that. I’ve come to warn you. A threat greater than the Warsaw Pact is emerging.”
The words “Warsaw Pact” felt like an anachronism. The Chief’s mind was preoccupied with the latest news from Brussels and Washington, not ghosts of the past. Just yesterday, NATO military leaders, including Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, had held a video conference to discuss post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine. The focus was on a “just, credible and durable peace,” and a small group of military planners were already in Washington to flesh out the details.
“Pay attention to Russia’s actions,” the old man insisted, his voice rising. “Don’t you realize the military cooperation between Russia, North Korea, and China?”
The Chief sighed. “Sir, with all due respect, you’re retired. If you have a suggestion, please use the official channels on the NATO website.”
But the old man would not be deterred. “I need to speak to the Director of the Joint Operations Office. The Soviet Union is not dead. It’s still alive.”
This was the core of the problem, the Chief thought. The world was moving on. Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, had just declared that any discussions of Ukraine’s future security without Moscow’s participation were a “road to nowhere.” He had explicitly criticized the European leaders who met with U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss such guarantees, calling their efforts a “utopia.” Meanwhile, military planners were exploring ways to provide Ukraine with a NATO-style collective defense mandate, a move that would be seen as a direct provocation by Moscow.
As security guards approached to escort the man away, his final words echoed in the air. “Russia is using Ukraine as an excuse to build the world’s largest military alliance!”
The Chief watched him go, a mix of pity and frustration washing over him. The old man’s concerns felt so removed from the current, complex diplomatic and military landscape. The real threat, the Chief believed, was not a return to Cold War blocs, but a failure to navigate the delicate, high-stakes negotiations for Ukraine’s future, a path that Russia was determined to control. The warning, however, lingered in his mind as a quiet, unsettling footnote to the day’s events.
All names of people and organizations appearing in this story are pseudonyms
Russia says talks on Ukraine’s security without Moscow are a ‘road to nowhere’
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