Is Vladimir Putin planning for a military confrontation with NATO in the near future? A senior Estonian security official seems to think so.
Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service reported that Russia is preparing for a military confrontation with NATO. Specifically, the Russians are said to be planning a move against the former Eastern Bloc nations that joined NATO after the end of the Cold War.
Kaupo Rosin, the chief of the intelligence service, said, “Russia has chosen a path which is a long-term confrontation and the Kremlin is probably anticipating a possible conflict with NATO within the next decade or so.”
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“If we are not prepared, the likelihood (of a military Russian attack) would be much higher than without any preparation,” said Kaupo Rosin.
“I haven’t observed any major strategic goals,” he added. “One of the goals that Russia is trying to reach, it’s true, is the reduction, or elimination of, support to and for Ukraine. But I don’t see any breakthrough success going on here.”
Rosin also responded to comments made by former President Donald Trump in which Trump said that should he return to office he would not be so quick to come to the aid of NATO allies like Estonia should they come under attack.
When asked about this, Rosin said, “Such statements are never helpful.”
In January, Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned about this in an interview with Germany’s Der Tagesspiegel.
Pistorius said, “We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day. So we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day.”
He went on to say that “German defense experts “expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible.”
The concerns about Russia’s expansionist intensions have grown since the country invaded Ukraine two years ago, with the intent of annexing that country.
This led to nations like Sweden, which has been known for centuries for its policies of neutrality, to seek membership in the NATO alliance, something inconceivable just a few years ago.