2y ago

Putin could attack Baltics and Moldova next, says Belgian army chief

www.politico.eu /article/belgian-army-chief-hofman-putin-attack-after-ukraine-baltics-moldova-next-russia/

After Ukraine, the Kremlin's next targets could be Moldova and the Baltic countries, Belgian army chief Michel Hofman has warned.

Russia has "already shown that they have the will to attack a neighbor," Hofman told Belgian news outlet VRT while visiting Belgian soldiers stationed in Romania. Russian President Vladimir Putin's language "is always ambiguous. It is absolutely possible that they will also have other ideas later. Either in the south in Moldova or the Baltic states," he said.

"Europe must urgently prepare and make it clear that it can defend itself" and that "it will ... counterattack if necessary," said Hofman, who is the chief of defense of the Belgian armed forces.

Ukraine has been fending off Putin's full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022 and shows no signs of abating despite fierce resistance from Kyiv's forces.

"Russia has switched to a war industry," Hofman added. Even if Moscow's forces seem weakened at the moment due to their ongoing war against Ukraine, this weakness is "temporary," he said. If Russia wins the war, it "will eventually regenerate the war machine and rebuild its armed forces," the army chief warned.

14 comments

with what?
- They're replenishing troops:
  https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-army-expansion-a2bf0b035aabab20c8b120a1c86c9e38
  And their arms and defense industry is ramping up heavily:
  https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-ramps-up-output-some-military-hardware-by-more-than-tenfold-state-company-2023-09-19/
  They've lost a lot of troops. Putin doesn't care, he can always send more of his countrymen to their deaths.
  They've lost a lot of equipment. Putin doesn't care, the Soviet Union spent far far more than Russia as a proportion of GDP and maintained that spending for decades.
  They are not to be underestimated, especially if Trump wins and further undermines NATO.
  
  Russia just does not have the economic capacity that the USSR did, and there not even winning. They've stalemated at best.
  This apples and oranges.
  
  Can the society of Russia "not care" along with Putin?
I mean, could he?
Like, Ukraine needs to be in NATO at this point, but fucking around in the Baltics?
This like Connor McGregor and his shit talking. Like bruh you gotta win first. Doesn't count if you just gas yourself in the first rounds.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
After Ukraine, the Kremlin's next targets could be Moldova and the Baltic countries, Belgian army chief Michel Hofman has warned.
"Europe must urgently prepare and make it clear that it can defend itself" and that "it will ... counterattack if necessary," said Hofman, who is the chief of defense of the Belgian armed forces.
Ukraine has been fending off Putin's full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022 and shows no signs of abating despite fierce resistance from Kyiv's forces.
Even if Moscow's forces seem weakened at the moment due to their ongoing war against Ukraine, this weakness is "temporary," he said.
It has functioned as an unrecognized state since the fall of the USSR, keeping its Soviet-era hammer and sickle flag and using Russian as its official language.
To the Kremlin's west, the Baltic countries are protected by NATO's common defense clause — and an attack by Putin's troops on Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania could trigger a wider conflict.
The original article contains 262 words, the summary contains 158 words. Saved 40%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Putin and what army?

14 comments