War in Ukraine 'threatens Ireland's reliance on neutrality'

Damaged buildings after Russian forces completed their takeover of Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine. Picture: Denis Pushilin telegram channel via AP

Ireland cannot rely on its neutrality if there is no rules-based international order to guarantee it, a Nato military boss has said.

The chief of Nato's military committee, Admiral Robert Bauer, said the stakes concerning Russia’s war in Ukraine “could not be higher” and that the international rule of law and of democracy, and the sovereign rights of nations, “hangs in the balance”.