Call It Miscalculation Regarding The West's 'Conflict' With Russia, British Military Commander: We Must Be Careful

British Chief of Military Staff General Sir Nick Carter as Commander of Southern Regional Command for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2009. (Wikimedia Commons/Robert Thaler)

JAKARTA - As traditional diplomatic tools are no longer available, there is a greater risk of an accidental war breaking out between the West and Russia than at any time since the Cold War, Britain's most senior military officer says.

Britain's Chief of Defense Staff General Nick Carter told Times Radio there is a greater risk of tensions in a new era of "multipolar world", where governments are competing for different goals and agendas.

"I think we have to be careful that people don't let the warlike nature of some of our politics end up in a position where escalation leads to miscalculations," he said in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, citing Daily Sabah 13. November.

Tensions have risen in eastern Europe in recent weeks after the European Union accused Belarus of flying thousands of migrants in to orchestrate a humanitarian crisis on its border with EU member Poland, a dispute that has threatened to involve Russia and NATO.

President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday the unscheduled NATO exercises in the Black Sea pose a serious challenge to Moscow, insisting Russia has nothing to do with the crisis on the border of Belarus' close ally with the bloc.

General Carter said authoritarian rivals are willing to use whatever tools they have at their disposal, such as migrants, gas price spikes, proxy forces or cyber attacks. "The character of the war has changed," he said.

After the bipolar world of the Cold War and the unipolar world of US dominance, diplomats now face a more complex multipolar world, he said, adding, the "traditional diplomatic tools and mechanisms" of the Cold War were no longer available.

"Without those tools and mechanisms, there's a greater risk that this escalation or this escalation could lead to miscalculations. So I think that's the real challenge we have to face," he said.

Britain said on Friday a small team of British military personnel had been deployed to explore "technical support" for Poland on its border with Belarus.

To note, British Typhoon warplanes also escorted two Russian military aircraft out of its territory on Friday, working with NATO partners to monitor the jets as they pass through international airspace.