As of: March 14, 2024, 5:13 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
Comments
Press
Split
Moscow is preparing for a conflict with NATO.
An intelligence report from Berlin is now supposed to show that Russia's military strengthening could happen faster than previously assumed.
Berlin – Apparently a new analysis by German intelligence services about Russia and the intensification of its arms production is circulating in the federal government.
The content: Moscow could double its military power within the next five years, as
Business Insider
reported on Wednesday, citing intelligence sources.
Russian attacks on NATO territory “cannot be ruled out,” it said.
Analysis from intelligence circles: Putin could attack NATO areas from 2026
According to research by
Business Insider
, intelligence sources say that Moscow is preparing for a fundamental conflict with the West.
The restructuring of the military, the troop movements and the stationing of missiles in the west of the country would suggest this.
The conclusion of the analysis: It can “no longer be ruled out” that Putin will attack at least parts of NATO, such as the Baltics or Finland, “from 2026,”
Business Insider
quoted the analysis.
So far, the assessment of many military experts has been that Europe would have more time to prepare.
The likelihood of war in Europe will only increase when Russia is no longer tied down by main combat operations in the Ukraine war, said defense expert at the German Society for Foreign Policy, Christian Mölling, in an interview with
BR24
in February.
The expert continued that it would then take six to nine years for Russia to rebuild its armed forces.
But the current intelligence report now indicates that things could go faster.
Russia has long since switched to a war economy and production in the Russian arms factories runs in three shifts around the clock.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 7, 2024 during a visit to the pilot academy in the Russian city of Krasnodar.
© IMAGO/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin Pool/Zuma Wire
Confrontation with Russia is “Cold War 2.0”: How quickly can Moscow implement military reform?
In its recently published annual report, the Lithuanian secret service also spoke of Russia's preparation for a confrontation with NATO.
The Russian economy is holding up better than expected due to high oil prices, government investments in the military industry and the evasion of sanctions, according to the report from the Baltics.
According to the Lithuanian secret service, how quickly and extensively the Russian military reform can be implemented depends on the course and outcome of the war in Ukraine.
The West's arms deliveries to Ukraine play a major role in this.
War experts at the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also saw the recent reorganization of the military structure as a long-term preparation “for a possible future large-scale conventional war against NATO,” according to the experts’ report dated February 26 emerges.
Russia has repeatedly described NATO as a “threat”.
“The alliance has continuously moved its military infrastructure toward our borders for several decades,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in January.
However, NATO is a defense alliance.
NATO military exercise “Steadfast Defender”: The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales of the British Royal Navy leads fifteen ships as part of an exercise on March 13th.
© LPhot Belinda Alker/UK Ministry of Defense/AP/dpa
My news
Putin threatens Finland and Sweden: “Destruction systems will be relocated” read
Ukraine armada unnerves Russia blogger: read drone number “unimaginably large”.
GDL demands too moderate?
In the rail dispute, the Left wants a 30-hour week with full wage compensation
1 hour ago
Vote on Taurus deliveries: These are the dissenters from the Ampellesen
2 hours ago
Dispute over Taurus deliveries – Strack-Zimmermann: “This allegation is already strong talk” read
Russia openly threatens to shoot down NATO jets – read “return of particularly aggressive attitude”.
NATO preparation for possible conflict with Russia: Moscow calls it a “threat”
Meanwhile, NATO is also preparing for a possible conflict with Russia.
In “Steadfast Defender,” the largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War, the alliance mobilized around 90,000 soldiers.
For four months until May, the troops of the 32 member countries will rehearse how to defend against an unspecified enemy in alliance territory.
Colonel Elegijus Paulavicius from the Lithuanian military intelligence service also had reassuring words given the tense situation between Russia and NATO.
“Confrontation does not mean that war is not inevitable.
We should view a long-term confrontation as a Cold War 2.0,” Oberst said, according to the BNS agency.
If Donald Trump becomes US President again, the Republican could significantly weaken the Western defense alliance NATO.
(bme)