Russia to remain threat even after defeat in Ukraine - NATO's military committee head

The head of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said this, Reuters reports.

“Whatever the outcome of the war, the Russians will most likely have similar ambitions ... therefore the threat does not go away,” he said. 

Although Russian troops, equipment and munitions are depleted by the war, NATO countries expect Moscow to try to restore and even strengthen its military capabilities, Bauer said.

“The general belief is that the Russians will reconstitute what they had, they will also learn from this conflict themselves and try to improve what they had,” said Bauer, speaking at the end of a two-day meeting of top military officers from NATO member countries.

According to Bauer, the alliance needs time to assess how long Russia will need to rebuild and improve its armed forces.

“Is that three to five years? Is it three to 10 years? That is something we will have to talk about together. It is something that will be looked at by the intelligence services,” he added. 

• Prior to that, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that Ukraine could rely on increased supplies of heavy weapons from the West in the near future.