The Russian army is focused on the war against Ukraine, but a ceasefire will allow Putin to engage in rearmament, which will increase the threat to NATO's eastern flank, believes Wolfgang Ischinger.
The threat to NATO's eastern flank from Russia may increase after a ceasefire in Ukraine. This opinion was expressed by Wolfgang Ischinger, the acting chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in an interview with the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. The interview was published on Saturday, February 7, ahead of the upcoming conference in Munich scheduled for February 13-15.
"As long as Ukraine is defending Europe, the danger is not that great," explained the acting head of the MSC. According to him, this means that the Russian army is focused on conducting military operations against the neighboring country. The Russian Armed Forces are losing "thousands of soldiers a week," Ischinger pointed out.
As soon as a ceasefire is achieved in Ukraine, the situation will change, believes the Der Tagesspiegel interlocutor. In this case, Russian President Vladimir Putin "will be able to continue rearmament in peacetime, and the threat to NATO countries on the eastern flank will increase," he noted.
Acting head of MSC sees a threat to Germany
The threat from the Russian Federation will also grow for Germany if a future ceasefire is not accompanied by a significant reduction of military presence in western Russia, Ischinger believes. However, he does not expect such behavior from Moscow.
At the same time, the acting head of the MSC emphasized that the war in Ukraine must be ended as soon as possible. The outcome of this is "a matter of fate for Germany and Europe," Ischinger is convinced.
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