Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a “future large-scale war” with NATO after threatening the alliance, a leading think tank has claimed.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warned that the Russian President “threatened Finland and the wider NATO alliance” in remarks he made Sunday on Russian state TV channel Rossiya 1. Putin warned that Russia would begin building up its military force on the Finnish border.
In a daily update, the ISW said: “The Russian military is currently redividing the Western Military District (WMD) to reform the Leningrad Military District (LMD) and the Moscow Military District (MMD) as part of a long-term restructuring and expansion effort that aims to prepare Russia for a potential future large-scale conventional war against NATO.
“The WMD is responsible for the Russian border with NATO members Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland but has largely been committed to the fight in Ukraine, where it has incurred significant losses.”
The warning comes just days after US President Joe Biden claimed that Russia would attack NATO if it won its war in Ukraine – something which Putin denied on state TV.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov echoed his boss’s comments slamming Joe Biden after he made the remarks.
Speaking on Russian TV, he said: “The very fact that serious people… the President of the United States says this out loud, speaks of their very desperate situation.”
The news comes amid what appears to be wavering support in the West for Ukraine. US aid earmarked for Ukraine has failed to make it through Congress and Pentagon planners have warned that currently approved aid will run out on December 30, Bloomberg reported.
Don’t miss… Ukraine ‘certain to fail’ against Russia without more aid, say Western officials[REPORT]
Vladimir Putin makes claims about Ukrainian counteroffensive
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Western officials have issued dire warnings that Ukraine will likely be unable to succeed or even completely lose to Russia if aid is not continued.
The EU has also stumbled with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocking €50billion (£43billion) in aid to Kyiv.
Despite fierce fighting causing high casualties on both sides, neither Moscow nor Kyiv have managed to capture significant territory and the frontlines have remained relatively static since Ukraine launched a counteroffensive this summer.
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