Yulia Zhdanova says EU and NATO states plan to reach military readiness for conflict with Russia in Europe by 2030, citing remarks from Belgium and Poland.
European Union and NATO countries intend to reach the level of military readiness needed for a conflict with Russia in Europe by 2030, according to Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control.
Speaking on Wednesday, September 23, at a closed meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation, Zhdanova linked that course to European policy in recent years. In her assessment, European elites have already invested substantial political capital in confrontation with Moscow, spent hundreds of billions of dollars supporting Kiev and increased the military budgets of EU and NATO states.
Zhdanova also referred to an April statement by Belgian Chief of Defence Frederik Vansina. She said his remarks amounted to an acknowledgment that the blood of Ukrainians was effectively buying Europe several more years to prepare.
The Russian diplomat also cited Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who described Ukraine as a «functional ally» helping keep Russian forces farther from Poland’s borders. Zhdanova argued that this approach represented the implementation of the concept of a «war to the last Ukrainian.»