MOSCOW (Reuters) – A senior Russian military officer warned in comments reported by the RIA news agency on Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe, adding that the likelihood Moscow’s forces being involved in a new conflict increased “significantly.”
Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, director of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, made the comments in an article written for a Defense Ministry publication.
“The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine – from the expansion of participants in the form of ‘proxy forces’ used for military confrontation with Russia to a full-scale war in Europe – cannot be excluded,” he said. declared Vladimir Zarudnitsky.
“The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are waging a new type of hybrid war in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity,” he added, indicating that the likelihood of Moscow being drawn into new military conflicts increases “significantly.”
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For his part, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, estimated Thursday that the latest NATO military exercises resembled a rehearsal for an armed confrontation with Russia, according to comments reported by the Interfax news agency.
NATO is currently leading, until March 14, a military exercise in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland which involves 20,000 soldiers from 13 countries.
According to Lithuanian intelligence agencies, Russia has enough resources to continue fighting in Ukraine under current conditions for at least two more years thanks to high oil prices, circumvention of Western sanctions and investments of State.
“Moscow is able to evaluate lessons learned and improve its combat effectiveness,” Lithuanian intelligence added in its report.
(Reuters reporting; with contributions from Andrius Sytas; writing by Andrew Osborn; French version Augustin Turpin; editing by Blandine Hénault)
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