Secret information leaked: NATO did not know this

Secret information leaked: NATO did not know this

According to the Financial Times, citing information from the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, Putin is preparing for that conflict within the next 10 years.

Kaupo Rosin, Estonia's director-general, whose analysis of Russia is closely watched in Western capitals, is the latest European official to warn of Moscow's continued appetite for conflict after the all-out invasion of Ukraine, which is approaching its two-year anniversary.

Emphasizing that Russia is not currently "ready to carry out any military actions towards NATO", he adds that "we see that in their own thinking the Russians consider that a military conflict with NATO is possible in the next decade".

Russian military reforms that are gradually being unveiled from the end of 2022 and set the reorganization of command departments in the northwest of the country would mean a "significant" increase in troops on NATO's eastern flank, Rosin told reporters ahead of the release of the agency's annual report.

"The Russians are planning to increase their military strength along the border of the Baltic countries, but also along the Finnish border. It is very likely that we will see an increase in manpower, perhaps roughly doubling. In the following years, we will see an increase in armed transporters, tanks, artillery systems," Rosin said, as quoted by Morning paper.

Intelligence reports also indicate that Russian soldiers on the other side of the Estonian border could almost double from 19,000 before the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is also stated that along the 1,340 km long border with Finland, a new member of NATO, where the Russian presence has been minimal until now, there has also been a strengthening of Russian forces.

It is recalled that a similar build-up of weapons and soldiers along Russia's border with Ukraine was observed in the months leading up to February 2022, when Vladimir Putin's troops began rolling towards Kyiv.

Troels Lund Poulsen, Danish Defense Minister, even warned last week of the possibility of a Russian attack within three to five years, saying that "new information" had come to light that was previously unknown to NATO countries.

Rosin said it was up to NATO allies to deter Russia by increasing their military spending.