Russia must be prepared for conflict with NATO: defense minister

A direct clash between Russia and NATO could happen within the next ten years and the country must be prepared for it, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov has said.

He was speaking at a meeting of top defense officials in Moscow on Monday, which was chaired by commander-in-chief, President Vladimir Putin. Belousov said the Russian military had executed its tasks in the Ukraine conflict and elsewhere this year against the backdrop of a “tough struggle with the collective West.”

Moscow’s ongoing standoff with the US and its allies “continues to intensify and expand,” he warned.

In such conditions, one of the main goals for the Russian Defense Ministry “is ensuring full readiness for any development of the situation in the medium term,” the minister said.

This includes “a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade,” he added.

Belousov made it clear that such a clash would be provoked by the US-led military bloc, and not Moscow.

The possibility of such a conflict is “indicated by the decisions that were made at the NATO summit in July. This is also reflected in the doctrinal documents of the US and other NATO countries,” he explained.

He noted that NATO was currently switching to a new combat readiness system that is expected to allow it to deploy a 100,000-strong grouping along Russia’s western borders within ten days, a 300,000-strong grouping within a month, and a 800,000-strong grouping within 180 days.

In the final declaration of its summit in Washington, NATO member states pledged to continue supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. The document blamed Moscow for seeking to “fundamentally reconfigure the Euro-Atlantic security architecture.” The bloc’s members also described Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to allies’ security” that “will persist into the long term.”

During his speech at the same meeting, Putin said the US was seeking “to weaken our country and inflict a strategic defeat” on Russia by continuing “to pump a de facto illegitimate ruling regime in Kiev with weapons and money, sending mercenaries and military advisers, thereby encouraging further escalation of the conflict.” Washington’s strategy is to deliberately “push us to the red line” and, when Moscow begins to respond, use it to “frighten their population,” he said.