Is NATO Eager For WWIII? Most Unlikely.

 

In today's peace settlement in Ukraine news we read an implied threat that our EU peacekeepers might just go into world-ender mode the first chance they get:

An anonymous Western official offered another option, saying the [French and UK] forces could launch direct, immediate strikes on Russian targets if a cease-fire is violated.

Wow. French and UK troops going toe-to-toe with the Rooskies? All the way up to nuclear combat? That's a hell of a prospect. 

The last time UK and other NATO troops engaged in a standoff with Russian forces was in 1999 during the Kosovo War in what has become known as the Incident at Pristina Airport:

The following morning, Sunday 13 June, [U.S. General] Clark arrived at [UK General] Jackson's HQ in Skopje. It was pointed out to Clark that the isolated Russians could not be reinforced by air and that, in light of how vital Russian support had been to get a peace agreement, antagonising them would only be counterproductive. Clark refused to accept this and continued to order that the runway be blocked, claiming to be supported by the NATO Secretary-General. 

When again directly ordered to block the runway, Jackson suggested that British tanks and armoured cars would be more suitable, in the knowledge that this would almost certainly be vetoed by the British government. Clark agreed. Jackson was ready to resign rather than follow Clark's order. The British Ministry of Defence authorised British force commander Richard Dannatt to use 4 Armoured Brigade to isolate the airfield but not to block the runways. Clark's orders were not carried out, and the United States instead requested neighbouring states not to allow Russia to use their airspace to ferry in reinforcements. Russia was forced to call off the reinforcements after Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania refused requests by Russia to use their airspace.

“I’m not going to start World War Three for you,” Newsweek reported Jackson as telling Clark. And okay, probably discretion was the better part of valor that day. 

Does anyone believe that the present day UK and French Generals are any more eager for nuclear combat than Jackson was in 1999?

Only in Zelensky's wet dreams.