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Pentagon does not rule out direct US-Russia conflict if Ukraine crisis escalates

General Gregory Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command

14 May 2025 03:37 (UTC +04:00)

The Pentagon believes that a direct standoff between the US and Russia is possible if the Ukraine crisis escalates, General Gregory Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), said in a written statement prepared for hearings before the US Senate Armed Services Committee, APA reports citing TASS.

According to the general, who is also the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, "the likelihood of a direct conflict between the United States and one of its four principal adversaries is increasing." In his opinion, even though China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran "seek to avoid armed conflict with the United States," their conviction in "Western decline fosters a growing willingness to challenge the United States on the global stage and increases the risk of miscalculation in a crisis."

Guillot insists that in the Ukrainian crisis, "there remain several plausible pathways by which the war could escalate into a direct military conflict with the United States." That said, according to him, the situation in the Middle East "threatens to embroil the United States in a direct military conflict with Iran and its proxies."

The general believes that tensions around Taiwan and in the South China Sea also "carry a persistent risk of escalation into armed conflict between China and the United States." That said, in his opinion, the situation on the Korean Peninsula "risks sparking renewed conflict.".