The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) confirmed, on Wednesday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be underestimated, and that Russia is preparing for a long war.
NATO has said the war can be stopped if Putin wants to, but the Russian president is working to increase his troop numbers.
Vladimir Putin (archive from Archyde.com)
reported Russian Ministry of DefenseOn Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held a meeting on increasing the size of the Russian Armed Forces to 1.5 million during 2023-2026.
For his part, he declared Russian Foreign Minister Sergey LavrovOn Wednesday, Moscow said that Moscow had not yet seen any serious proposals for establishing peace in Ukraine, and that the ideas of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on this issue were unacceptable.
He made it clear that Moscow is ready to discuss the matter with Western countries and respond to any serious proposals, adding that any talks must address Russia’s many security concerns.
The Russian minister reiterated that Moscow is ready to consider any “serious” negotiations from the West on Ukraine, but said, “There is nothing new so far.” He stressed that “there can be no talks” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Lavrov again called on NATO to remove its military infrastructure from Ukraine and other countries close to Russia’s borders.
NATO surveillance planes also arrived in Romania on Tuesday to reinforce the military alliance’s eastern wing and help monitor Russian military activity.
And the alliance revealed, last week, that it will deploy surveillance aircraft equipped with the Airborne Warning and Surveillance System in Bucharest, where reconnaissance flights will begin exclusively over the territory of NATO member states.