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Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, may not start an all-out war with NATO. However, Putin already has a plan that could destroy NATO from within. Photo/REUTERS
BRUSSELS – The era of relative peace and prosperity that Western countries have enjoyed since the end of World War II may be coming to an end.
In March, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Europe was in the “pre-war” era and Russia must not defeat Ukraine for the sake of the continent’s security.
“I don’t want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept of the past,” Tusk said in an interview with several European media. In fact, it started more than two years ago, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is one of a series of increasingly loud warnings that the war in Ukraine could be the start of a larger conflict.
German military planning documents leaked in January envision Russia launching a major offensive in 2024 to take advantage of reduced Western support in Ukraine.
These documents, which were obtained Bild, then depicts Russia turning its attention to NATO members in Eastern Europe, seeking to destabilize its enemies through cyberattacks and internal unrest in the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Germany is not the only one. Late last year, Poland’s national security agency estimated that Russia could attack NATO within three years.
The 32-nation NATO alliance each vows to protect each other from attack under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. This means that a Russian attack on one of the members could trigger a war involving several nuclear-armed countries.
