that’s some load-bearing “after”
I don’t even think victory is possible for Russia in Ukraine, never mind taking on NATO after.
By that I don’t mean they cant win the war in Ukraine, there is a possibility of Trump winning and pulling US backing, the EU not making up the difference and Russia winning a slow grinding victory over the Ukrainian military. But can that really be called a win? All they will have achieved is trashing their own post soviet surplus, their military, their economy and their largest export market just to be able to spend the next 20 years locked into counter insurgency in Ukraine and expanding and strengthening NATO. I don’t see that as a win for Russia just to gain a buffer state to ward off an invasion that would never happen thanks to nuclear weapons.
Pretty sure Poland wishes they’d try something. They’d love payback for Stalin parking his army while the Nazis razed Warsaw.
Eh, that’s a bit of a stretch. Poland is one of the stronger militaries in Eastern Europe. If somehow Russia got out of their war in Ukraine with anything resembling a semi-intact military, they’d probably be trying to roll into either Georgia or Moldova next. I mean, more than they already are in those countries. I think if they were really going to test NATO’s mutual defense treaty (like if Trump was elected, who has repeatedly refused to affirm he would support article 5), they’d probably start with attacking a Baltic state after some heavy interference and hybrid warfare first, maybe trying to carve a land bridge to kaliningrad or “protecting russian speaking peoples” or something as an excuse.
Some of talking heads already said it about them but also about Kazakhstan and Finland. These news are for internal consumption, to look big and still kicking for the average TV consumer.
Some NATO countries recently did a first in many years coordinated strike at Ansar Allah, Yemeni rebels, to show their might for free. I think it can be an answer to that.
ORLY? Poland? A NATO ally, who fought with the US in Iraq? Please try it.
Blowhard blows hard to State run media. While I don’t doubt that there are people within Russia that want to see a further invasion of Europe, I strongly suspect that many of the major power players in Russia understand exactly how far fetched such an invasion would be. No matter how rosy of a picture his generals are likely painting for him, Putin can’t help but notice that Kyiv is not currently under Russian control. And the Russian military structure likely knows that they are really not ready to take on all of NATO at once. At the same time, it’s always possible that Putin will face internal pressures to escalate. So, NATO needs to be ready, which sadly means yet more wealth thrown away in keeping humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
