“Special Operation” takes longer
Kremlin speaks directly of a war against the West
February 15, 2024, 3:44 a.m
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European politicians and experts are warning of a possible Russian attack on a NATO country if Russia conquers Ukraine. Kremlin leader Putin claims that he has no interest in it. But his spokesman sees Russia already in a war with the West.
Almost two years after the Russian attack on Ukraine, Moscow sees itself in a war with the entire Western world, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said this, according to Russian agency reports. “The special military operation began as an operation against Ukraine,” Peskov was quoted as saying. “Over time it has taken the form of a war against the collective West.” He spoke of a war in which the Western countries, with the USA at the forefront, were directly involved. This means that the special military operation – as Moscow officially calls the war of aggression against Ukraine – will take longer than expected. “But it doesn’t change the way things are going,” said Peskov, according to the information.
Kremlin boss Putin ordered a large-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago on February 24, 2022 in order to bring the neighboring country under Russian control. Ukraine is defending itself with all its might and is dependent on arms and financial aid from European states, the USA and other democratic countries around the world. Putin also often interprets the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine as a conflict in which Russia has to defend itself against the Western world.
European defense politicians and security experts repeatedly warn of a possible Russian attack on NATO if Putin’s army is successful in Ukraine. “If Putin wins this war and occupies Ukraine, the danger for the alliance territory will of course also increase,” Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told the “Tagesspiegel” in January. He believes an attack is unlikely in the near future. But “our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible,” explained the minister.
The Estonian secret service also assumes that the alliance “will be confronted with a mass Soviet-type army within the next decade,” said the annual report of the foreign intelligence service of the Baltic EU and NATO country, which was presented on Tuesday in Tallinn . The Russian army is technologically inferior to NATO, but “poses a significant threat due to its size, firepower and reserves.”
Putin recently ruled out an attack on the NATO countries Poland and Latvia. “We have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else,” he said in an interview with right-wing US presenter Tucker Carlson last week.