NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Rob Bauer revealed on Saturday that Microsoft played a crucial role in Ukraine's preparation for a conflict with Russia by facilitating the migration of Ukrainian authorities' digital data to various cloud storage services in February 2022.

Speaking at the Fifth Special Session of the 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Bauer said: "The Ukrainian government, with the help of Microsoft, had started transferring data to multiple clouds seven days before the start of the war. This allowed for the quick reboot and maintain the country's digital stability."

Elsewhere in his statement, Bauer praised this partnership as a prime example of effective public-private cooperation.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual conference organized by the Singapore branch of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, commenced on Friday evening and will continue through mid-afternoon Sunday, June 2. This year marks the 21st edition of the conference, focusing on topics such as artificial intelligence, cyber defense, and the evolving nature of warfare.

In a panel @IISS_org #SLD24 I expressed my concerns that while technology is increasing our ability to destroy, our ability to regulate is decreasing.

Hyper-tech weapons combined with medieval lawlessness… is not modern. pic.twitter.com/xKqveyjrSr

— Admiral Rob Bauer (@CMC_NATO) June 1, 2024

In late March, Bauer made the controversial statement that the NATO alliance is prepared for a potential conflict with Russia.

In an interview with Armyinform, the online news outlet of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Bauer mentioned that the goal of the alliance is always to be prepared for war.

He further claimed that there are currently no NATO troops stationed in Ukraine and there are no plans to deploy troops there. He added that any member state considering the deployment of troops should recognize that such a move will impact the entire alliance.

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On a related note, US President Joe Biden recently lifted restrictions on Ukraine's use of US-supplied weapons against targets in Russian territory.

According to US officials, Biden made the move "only to defend the under-fire" Kharkov region against Russian forces.

News reports say that Biden has come under increasing pressure from Ukrainian officials urging him to further ease the ban on the use of weapons.

However, the US president believes that this would drag NATO into direct conflict or even a nuclear standoff with Russia. 

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US Army Lieutenant Colonel and veteran consultant Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik on Saturday that such a move will not lead Kiev to avert a loss in the ongoing war.

In fact, it would lead Moscow to establish a buffer zone large enough to prevent Ukraine from attacking its border areas