German intelligence agencies are wary that the Kremlin could be preparing a full-scale assault on Nato by the end of the decade, according to multiple sources.
Following Donald Trump’s flirtation with withdrawing the US from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Russian president Vladimir Putin is reportedly eyeing a conventional military offensive.
Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Bundeswehr have both raised concerns, according to European Pravda and Bild (as cited by the UK Defence Journal) stating that Russia views the West as a “systematic enemy”.
The German publications reportedly obtained the insight from sources within the country’s government.
Russia has been at war with Ukraine since it invaded the country in February 2022, with Kyiv receiving significant support from European allies and the US.
However, since returning to the White House in January, Trump has clashed publicly with Volodymyr Zelensky and instead sought to charm Putin in a meeting without his Ukrainian counterpart present.
Reports claim that Russia is “rebuilding its military capacity with long-term confrontation in mind,” and has its navy and air force ready despite three quarters of its land forces being in Ukraine.
Ukraine is not a member of 32-nation Nato - which is built on the cornerstone of its treaty’s article five, that an armed attack against one or more members shall be considered an attack against all members.
The German media has said that its government fears that Mr Putin may be wanting to put this pact to the test. Sources have disclosed that Russia has quadroupled its defence budget over the past four years to €120 billion.
Read also: Donald Trump pushes for near-total control of Ukraine’s minerals and energy
The news follows Sir Keir Starmer stating that Mr Putin should be given a deadline to advance talks with Ukraine.
He said: “We’ve agreed that we must go further now to support the peace process, support Ukraine and increase the pressure on Russia to get serious.”
Although he declined to name a hard deadline, Sir Keir added that he wanted to see progress “in days and weeks, not months and months”.
On Friday, Reform leader Nigel Farage appeared to distance himself from Trump’s approach to Ukraine, saying the US president risks turning Putin “into a winner”.
“It’s quite right to aim for peace, but we can’t have a peace that turns Putin into a winner, so I would not be 100 per cent with where his team is right now, absolutely not,” he told the BBC Today programme.
Who are the nations representing Nato?
- Albania
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden (joined in 2023)
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
