“This is a real threat”: Chief of the General Staff of Poland calls for preparation for war with Russia

“This is a real threat”: Chief of the General Staff of Poland called for preparations for war with Russia Angelika Baybak

More interesting audio newsListen

The threat of war between Russia and NATO, including Poland, is quite real. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken out about war with the Alliance, so it is quite possible that he is hatching such plans.

However, Russia is unlikely to dare to attack a country that is well prepared. This was reported by 24 Channel with reference to an interview with Chief of the General Staff of Poland General Wieslaw Kukula to the Rzeczpospolita publication.

Poland has called for preparations for war with Russia

According to Kukula, a Russian attack on Poland in the future is quite possible. When exactly Putin might decide to invade depends on the pace of restoration of the military power of the aggressor country, the increase in the occupation army and the weakening of NATO. In addition, the United States will also be directly drawn into the new war.

This is a real threat. For me, the most important question is different. Will we be able to build the sustainability of the state system and the ability of the Armed Forces to eliminate this threat in the long term and when? Whether the war will start and when it will start, in a certain sense depends on us. Attacking a country that is well prepared to defend itself and whose society will fight back is a huge risk. Aggression always feeds on weaknesses, – emphasized the Chief of the General Staff of Poland.

Kukula also commented on whether Russia could really start a new war against the North Atlantic Alliance in a few years. Thus, according to his estimates, this could theoretically happen before 2029, provided that the Kremlin has time to accumulate reserves. The Chief of the General Staff of Poland noted that the NATO leadership also has this opinion.

“Russia has the demographic and raw material potential and, most importantly, a still functioning defense industry not only to wage war, but also to develop its defense potential in parallel. Ending the conflict in Ukraine will significantly facilitate the expansion of its armed forces and can significantly reduce the deadline specified by General Breyer,” Kukula added.

Although the Polish General Staff did not name more specific deadlines, the possibility of Putin's attack on NATO countries will depend on three factors – intentions, strength and opportunity. Thus, the first of them has long been known throughout the world, because the Kremlin has been spreading narratives about war with the Alliance since 2021. Regarding the second factor – strength – Russia has considerable difficulties, because a full-scale war with Ukraine significantly depletes the aggressor's resources.

However, Russia has the capacity to restore its weapons stockpiles and manpower. Moreover, according to Kukula, Putin has learned from his mistakes during the attack on Ukraine, so the attack on NATO will most likely have a different vector.

The force vector has been greatly weakened by Ukrainian resistance and international solidarity. But Russia is consistently rebuilding it. The plan to expand the armed forces to 1.5 million soldiers in a country that has a nuclear deterrent arsenal is a very clear signal of what these resources should be used for. Especially after the withdrawal from Ukraine, where an underestimated number of troops were involved, especially at the initial stage of aggression, Kukula added.

In addition, Russia can use other opportunities to attack NATO. For example, the Chief of the General Staff of Poland cites the emergence of disputes between the Alliance and the United States or a war in the Pacific Ocean, which will actively involve American forces.

“It should be remembered that Russia is forming a vector of possibilities in many dimensions, in particular with its hybrid operations,” Kukula is convinced.

To summarize, the Chief of the General Staff of Poland noted that Russia is unpredictable, and this is not always taken into account by some NATO member countries. Therefore, calculations on containing the aggressor may turn out to be incorrect. Therefore, Kukula calls for preparing for war. He said that NATO began preparing for a possible war back in 2021, when intelligence recorded Russia's preparations for an attack on Ukraine.

“Then we began the entire cycle of training the armed forces, and NATO's transformation immediately began. The fact that NATO planes, flying tankers, and early warning systems appeared over Poland a few hours before the attack on Ukraine was no accident,” the head of the Polish General Staff summed up.