A Russian attack on a NATO country would not inevitably lead to a shooting war between NATO and Russia. That’s because NATO’s deliberation process for invoking Article 5 allows the alliance to set aside small or accidental strikes. And even if NATO does invoke Article 5, each NATO member would decide what, if any, role it takes in the response. […]
So far, the military conflict following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has remained within the borders of Ukraine. But it may not stay there — and if not, there’s a chance of a military faceoff between Russia and the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.
Ukraine is bordered by four NATO members: Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. (A fifth neighboring country, Moldova, is not a NATO member.) Further north, Russia borders the three Baltic states, each of which belongs to NATO: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. […]
Could NATO’s Article 5 require the United States, as the key member of NATO’s military, to wage a direct military fight against Russia? Experts say it could, but they add that there is a considerable gray area that confounds easy assumptions. Article 5 does not lead inexorably to full-scale war; it offers a framework for developing a measured response, with each country deciding what action to take. Läs artikel