An all-out war with Russia could develop over the next 20 years, a top NATO official has warned as the bloc prepares for its biggest military exercise in decades.
“We have to realize that we are not at peace,” Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of NATO’s military committee, told reporters after a meeting of the alliance’s defense chiefs in Brussels.
“And that’s why we [NATO forces] is preparing for conflict with Russia,” he said.
The warning comes ahead of the start of military exercises next week – involving some 90,000 troops and lasting months – aimed at proving the alliance can defend its territory right up to its border with Russia.
Bauer also said that large numbers of civilians would also need to be mobilized in the event of war, and argued that coalition governments should begin planning for such mass mobilization.
“It starts there – the realization that not everything can be planned and not everything will be great in the next 20 years,” he said.
Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of NATO’s military committee, warned of the possibility of war with Russia in the next 20 years. Anadolu via Getty Images
Others said an attack could be closer, with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack a NATO country in less than a decade, he told German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.
Newly leaked German military documents even envision a scenario in which Russia launches a massive Spring 2024 offensive to take advantage of declining Western support for Ukraine, though a German official called that scenario “extremely unlikely,” according to Business Insider.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis also called on Europe to speed up preparations for such an attack.
“It is possible that Russia may not be contained in Ukraine,” said Landsbergis, warning: “There is no scenario in this that if Ukraine does not win, it could end well for Europe.”
Some 90,000 NATO troops are set to begin the bloc’s biggest military exercise since the Cold War. Getty Images
He and other senior NATO officials have become increasingly concerned that governments and their private arms manufacturers are falling behind in preparing for an attack, as stockpiles of weapons and ammunition continue to dwindle as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia has doubled its military spending to 40% of the entire national budget and increased production.
The country has also rejected American proposals to reopen arms control dialogue, with officials arguing that the US is only looking for a strategic defeat of Russia in Ukraine as the New Start agreement – which limits long-range US and Russian nuclear weapons – is set to expire in February 2026, the report said. Wall Street Journal.
Staff Sgt AgustÃn Montañez Putin has dismissed claims that Russia could go to war with NATO as “absolute nonsense.” AP
“We need to be more prepared across the entire spectrum,” Bauer said in his speech Thursday.
“You have to have a system to find more people if it involves war, whether it happens or not. Then you talk mobilization, reserve forces or conscription.
“You need to be able to get back to an industrial base capable of producing weapons and ammunition fast enough to be able to continue the conflict if you’re in it.”
In December, Putin denied President Biden’s claims that Russia could go to war with NATO, calling them “complete nonsense.”
Still, some 90,000 NATO troops are set to begin the bloc’s biggest military exercise since the Cold War.
The operation, named Steadfast Defender, was designed specifically to prepare the alliance for a Russian invasion.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
