Will Putin cross the borders of Ukraine?

There are at least three states, two of them NATO members, the other on the road to membership, who have warned during the past month that Russia could attack one of the military alliance countries.

Romania's army chief of general staff, General Gheorghita Vlad, has said that all of Europe should be concerned about Russia's intentions. In an interview given Radio Free Europe on 1 February, he has said his country must urgently approve a legal framework that will enable civil volunteers to pursue military training.

I think the Russian Federation will not stop in Ukraine. If you win Ukraine, its next target will be Moldova. We will also see tensions in the Western Balkans. I am more than convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will escalate his policies in the near future”, Vlad has said.

Army chief warns Romania must prepare for Putin

Russia has begun its full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, bringing the war to Romania's northern border. Just two weeks before General Vlad's statement, Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said Russia's increasingly combative president, Vladimir Putin, could attack the NATO military alliance in less than a decade.

We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day... so we must keep in mind that Vladimir Putin may attack a NATO country as well. According to our experts, this could happen within five or eight years”, he said.

Similar alarms have issued Sweden the country, which after more than two centuries of peace, is just a few steps away from NATO membership. Swedish Army Commander General Michael Byden has said on January 8th that all Swedes must mentally prepare for the possibility of war.

Russia's “Fight against Ukraine is just a step, not a final game. I don't want to bother people, but I want them to think about their situation and their responsibilities”, Byden said.

Western war mode “is not functioning” in Ukraine

Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has said in an interview for the German broadcaster, The ARD, on February 4th, has no immediate military threat against any NATO member state. However, the chairman of the alliance's National Chiefs Military Committee, Rob Bauer, has said on January 17th that NATO countries “should be in Red alarm for war” and “await the unexpected.

Kremlin itself, through spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has said European officials who speak of the prospect of war with Russia try to portray Moscow as an enemy.

But, not rare were the cases where Putin has indirectly threatened NATO countries, helping Ukraine with weapons and logistics. “Russia has More nuclear weapons that NATO countries”, he said at an economic forum in St Petersburg last year.

Analysts say that states restricting Russia or are close to it have long felt anxiety over Putin's imperial ambitions, which the breakup of the Soviet Union has seen as the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20”.

Retired U.S. Army General Douglas Lute, who has also served as a permanent representative of the United States in NATO, speaks of Expose program Radio Free Europe:

Everyone who has been attentive for the past two years takes threats from Vladimir Putin seriously. He has proved that he is willing to break every international rule, established over the last 75 years... to the UN Charter, which regulates the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. So, if he is willing to break the UN Charter and any other major international agreement, then possible threats to territories beyond Ukraine are reliable”, Lute says.

Concerns in Europe have added to the increased cost to Russia's military and arms industry. According to some documents stemming last year, Russia would increase the military budget for 2024 for nearly 70%At 107 billion euros, respectively.

Mark Canciaan, retired U.S. Navy colonel, It says about Expose that the Russian army has the greatest combat experience in the world and that this gives it advantage over many NATO nations. He does not believe it can quickly rebuild its capacities, possibly even a generation, but says NATO should be vigilant.

NATO arrangements are not equal. Countries in Eastern Europe are very concerned, they are increasing their military budgets, increasing the size of their armed forces and preparing in the field. The problem is that NATO countries west are less concerned. Germans have been criticised for not doing more. Even in other countries, concerns are not large, and the level of military spending continues to be below 2%x1>, Canciaan says. High official of NATO: West must prepare for war with Russia

With NATO rules, 31 member states must spend at least 2% gross domestic production on defence, but not all do so. Corely, NATO has increased defence spending for About $190 billion Since 2014, Russia has invaded Ukraine for the first time.

Currently, the alliance is testing its readiness in a long military exercise, which began in late January and will last until the end of May. With 90,000 troops involved, it has been considered NATO's largest since the end of the Cold War.

General Lute says NATO should give priority to the integrated air and missile defence system. This should lead the alliance's plans for modernisation, according to him.

“NATO has no integrated system like the one protecting Ukraine today. This must be a concern for all allies. Ukraine has the most sophisticated air and rocket defence in Europe, and yet it is not enough. NATO has spoken in the past about prioritising air and missile defence, but I think the threat now is very real”, says Lute.

Another concern General Lute expresses is Donald Trump's possible return to the White House. During the time he was president, Trump has threatened to leave NATO, while late, there have been reports that he has pledged that he won't help the AlliesIf anyone gets attacked.

The US presidential election is held this November. General Lute says that if Trump is elected, US support for Ukraine, or even its leading role in NATO, will likely be reduced since next year.

If there is one thing that is vital to NATO's success, it is the predictable American leadership. Donald Trump challenges predictability. And that's too bad for the” alliance, says Lute.

Cancia also echo these statements. He says it is real that fear that NATO, without American leadership, would not be effective in curbing aggression, especially from Russia.

The U.S. Forces in Europe make it important for the United States to make a commitment to European security. They are integral parts of defence in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland and the Baltic countries”, Cancan says.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine called Moscow a special military operation has caused the biggest confrontation between the West and Russia since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

American President Joe Biden has warned in 2022 that the direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would trigger World War III. Russian officials have said several times that Western politicians' claims that Russia could attack a NATO country are meaningless.

But the West also has fresh denials of Russia that it would attack Ukraine in 2022.