Russia's attack on NATO countries will become real if West doesn't provide Ukraine with necessary assistance - expert Chalenko

Ihor Chalenko, the head of the Center for Analysis and Strategies, said this on the Espreso TV channel.

"I think that the scenario of a Russian attack on NATO countries may become real if Western countries do not provide Ukraine with the necessary military and financial assistance. This will be an incentive for Putin to become more active on the Ukrainian front and, of course, to go further," he said.

According to him, the issue of the Suwalki Gap is currently the most realistic among other options.

"Yes, we also see Moldova, which is under enormous pressure from Russia. We also see the situation with emigrants in Finland. That is, Russia is working in several directions and can always send fake benchmarks to make people afraid of it. But, nevertheless, this is now a signal to the West, among others. West needs to step up our assistance to Ukraine so that Russia does not go further and does not have the ability to open this second front," Chalenko added.

Commenting on the Bild article, which states that Russia is allegedly preparing for a major war with NATO in the summer of 2025, he noted that the exercises use a certain abbreviation for a conditional enemy.

"That is, no specific country will be named there. If the Russian Federation was indeed mentioned in those documents, as Bild journalists say, then this is most likely one of the scenarios," the expert said.

He recalled that Bild was actually the first to publish a real plan for Russia's offensive against Ukraine. At the time, it was criticised by everyone, including in Ukraine.

"As it turned out, the publication passed the test. However, I do not rule out that this platform will be used for leaks to manipulate the position of the Alliance member states and the world in general," said the head of the Center for Analysis and Strategies.

• Bild reported, citing a secret document from the German Defense Ministry, that the Bundeswehr had developed a training scenario for a war with Russia if the Ukrainian Defence Forces were defeated.
• On January 15, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on the information from the German Defense Ministry in Bild. She compared Bild's information about a possible escalation between NATO and Russia to a horoscope.