Germany's defense minister warned that Russia could attack NATO within five years, as the alliance prepares to launch its largest military exercises in decades amid growing global uncertainty.
Boris Pistorius told German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel: “Our experts expect a period of between five and eight years in which this could be possible.
He added: “We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day, so we have to take that into account [Russian President] Russian President Vladimir Putinmay even attack A NATO country one day.
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While he said that was unlikely “at the moment,” Pistorius warned that “we are dealing with a military threat situation in Europe that did not exist 30 years ago.”
“We see it through Russia Attack on Ukraine. “We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day, most recently against our friends in the Baltic states.”
His warning comes on the day the head of NATO's military committee urged people to prepare for a conflict that would require a major change in their lives.
Admiral Rob Power said: “We have to realize that it is not a given that we live in peace. That is why we are [NATO forces] They are preparing for conflict with Russia.
“But the discussion is much broader. It's also the industrial base as well as the people who have to understand that they play a role.”
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About 90,000 NATO personnel, 20,000 from the UK, NATO members will participate in months-long maneuvers, starting next week, which are the largest alliance since the Cold War, and which leaders hope will demonstrate the organization’s ability to defend all of its territory, even its borders with Russia.
The maneuvers, called “Steadfast Defender 24,” will demonstrate “that NATO is capable of conducting and sustaining complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometres, from the Far North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any conditions.” The Nation Authority said.
Troops are scheduled to move into and across Europe until the end of May in what NATO describes as a “simulation of an emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary.”
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NATO now sees its main opponents as Russia and terrorist organizations.
US General Christopher Cavoli said the exercises, which coincide with Russia's involvement in Ukraine, would demonstrate “our unity, our strength, and our determination to protect each other.”
Although NATO is not directly involved in the conflict, it is providing Ukraine with non-lethal support, and several member states have been sending weapons and ammunition and providing military training.
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NATO had already begun beefing up security on its eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine in the months before Vladimir Putin ordered troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
