Putin’s every move now points to future clash with Europe — Russian opposition expert

He expressed this opinion in an interview with Antin Borkovskyi, host of the Studio West program on Espreso TV.

“During Trump’s peace initiative period, Putin repeatedly spoke of geopolitical madness when assessing the development of Europe and the world. Even after the Istanbul meeting, he claimed that ‘certain Western handlers don’t want to stop the war and are using the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv to prolong it.’ Putin and his entire circle believe they have a good prospect in the war, that they need to build up strength and then fight the West. A future showdown with the West is on the agenda and is a central element of all of Putin’s future planning,” the political analyst noted.

According to him, the Kremlin is driven by the belief that today it’s Ukraine, but in 5–7 years an inevitable clash with NATO will follow, and they must prepare for that conflict.

“What Putin is doing today clearly signals a future confrontation with Europe — this cannot be overlooked. And it is right that European countries are once again raising the question of whether and how NATO’s Article 5 would function in a crisis. For many years, there was strong inertia - it was assumed that this article would automatically take effect. Now, it’s evident that countries on NATO’s eastern flank are not at all certain it would trigger automatically. That’s why these questions are being raised, along with broader issues of European security, which is absolutely appropriate given Putin’s actions. I believe Putin’s current moves are his response to Trump’s peace initiative - and this has been clearly understood throughout Europe. That’s why we must prepare to respond to the growing threat,” Morozov concluded.

• On May 21, the EU countries agreed to establish a €150 billion+ Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defense fund.
• EU Military Committee Chief General Robert Brieger has called on EU member states to radically review their defense policy and prepare for a possible Russian attack on Europe.