Collective Deterrence of the Russian Federation and the Defeat of Its Troops in Ukraine Is the only Way to Prevent War in Europe
The scenario of a future crisis leading to a military clashes between the Russian Federation and NATO, recently published by the Bild newspaper, has made a lot of noise both in Germany and abroad. This forecast looks very realistic and is supposedly based on information from the German Defense Ministry.
The main theses described by the German tabloid is not very optimistic for Europe. Thus, according to it, having failed to achieve success in Ukraine, Putin is preparing to “raise the stakes.” To achieve this goal, he would provoke conflicts in the Baltic countries, like it was with Crimea, and also create conditions for “breaking through the Suwalki corridor.”
It is clear that in order to realize his goals, Putin would need general mobilization in the Russian Federation, so the start of a new war can be expected only after Putin’s new presidential term.
According to the German military, Putin does not plan to use nuclear weapons in the conflict with NATO, since China is against this. Consequently, conventional weapons would be used in the war with NATO. At the same time, the nature of the military clashes would resemble the nature of the war in Ukraine: several thousand kilometers of trench battles on the front line. In this case, NATO would receive carte blanche to use the entire range of its modern weapons, including long-range missiles, aviation, and long-range artillery (what Ukraine lacks now). It is clear that in such a war several million Russian soldiers will die. But such heavy losses hardly ever stop the Russian aggressor: it should be clear to everyone that Putin is ready to accept such a scenario, since only the continuation of the war guarantees his lifelong stay in power.
Thus, Putin has finally gone crazy! He is ready to kill millions of Russians, just to sit in the Kremlin and talk nonsense about “traditional values”, so the leaders of the NATO countries, like all other civilized countries, must understand that only the collective deterrence of the Russian Federation and the defeat of its troops in Ukraine is the only way to prevent war in Europe.