Sarah Palin, the running mate of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, on Thursday said the US would be obligated to go to war with Russia if it invaded a Nato ally – a status she advocated for Georgia, which Russia invaded last month.

Ms Palin, the self-styled “hockey mom” whose selection was criticized by Democrats and some Republicans as rash given her foreign policy inexperience, was giving her first full media interview since Mr. McCain chose her last month reports the Financial Times.

Her response, while technically accurate, is likely to reinforce the debate about whether the Alaska governor should be a “heartbeat away from the presidency”.

“I mean, that is the agreement when you are a Nato ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help,” she told ABC’s Charlie Gibson.

“We have got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable.”

Ms Palin, who only secured her first passport this year so she could visit her state’s national guard in Germany and the Gulf, confidently asserted that she was ready to be vice-president – and, by implication, president.

“I answered [McCain] ‘yes’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink,” she said.

Read it here: Palin takes tough line on Russia