The US think tank believes that Russia’s desire for war against NATO countries is not in the immediate future, but closer than previously estimated.
Many signs in the Russian economy and armed forces suggest that Russia is preparing for large-scale conventional warfare against NATO countries, evaluate the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its daily review on Wednesday.
ISW believes that Russia’s interest in military action is not in the immediate future, but closer than many Western experts have previously estimated.
ISW’s assessment is based, among other things, on the Russian president Vladimir Putin To the speeches given on February 29 and March 19, in which he emphasized the need to keep government spending higher than usual in the future as well, and that the Russian elite will also have to endure financial losses.
ISW also refers to the President of Poland Andrzej Dudan to the US CNBC news channel on March 20 to statementsaccording to which Putin is leading Russia into a military economy with the intention of attacking NATO countries possibly as early as 2026 or 2027. Duda referred to German information, which he did not elaborate on.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke to the board of the Russian Ministry of Defense on March 20 and told about the ongoing Russian military reforms, which will increase the combat capability of the Russian army. According to ISW, recent appointments to key positions in the Ministry of Defense point to long-term efforts to wage war against NATO countries rather than to waging war in Ukraine.
At the end of February, Putin gave his State of the Nation address to the country’s parliament in Moscow. At that time, Putin said that Russia should militarily strengthen its western direction with the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden.