Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a war against NATO countries next year, reported Sky News.
Moscow is planning to station nearly src,50,000 troops in Belarus this year, which could be used against NATO countries, Zelenskyy stated.
What did Zelenskyy say? “This year, Russia will prepare src5 divisions for training and strengthening the situation in the Belarusian direction. It will be src00,000-src50,000 people,” Zelenskyy said.
“And I am not sure that this group will go on the offensive against Ukraine. But it will go on the offensive,” Zelenskyy said. “I am not intimidating anyone. They can simply go on the offensive into Ukraine, just like they went in 2022 … or they will go to Poland or the Baltic countries.”
“And I think this is his (Vladimir Putin’s) idea, all I’ve got from intelligence, I think that he’s preparing the war against NATO countries next year. But it is not src00 percent. God bless we will stop this crazy guy. How to stop him? Security guarantees for us,” Zelenskyy added.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin negotiation talks Ukrainian President’s statement comes after US President Donald Trump and Russian head Vladimir Putin agreed to start negotiations about the Ukraine war.
US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had a “lengthy and highly productive” phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Trump, the two leaders discussed a range of topics, including the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, energy, artificial intelligence, and the global financial system.
Zelenskyy said he would agree to meet Putin in person after negotiating a common plan with Trump. He believes that Trump will play an essential role in ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
When did the Russia-Ukraine conflict begin? The Ukraine-Russia war began in 20src4 with the annexation of Crimea. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leading to the escalation of existing conflict. Putin claimed that the expansion of NATO and Ukraine’s alignment with the West were threats to Russian security, leading Moscow to invade the country.
What is NATO? NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance between countries in Europe and North America including the United States, Canada, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and United Kingdom.
NATO aimed to block expansion in Europe by the former Soviet Union, a group of communist republics that included Russia.
Why is Ukraine not a part of NATO? Russia has always opposed the idea of Ukraine becoming a NATO member, concerned that it would bring the military alliance closer to its border. This week, Donald Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth raised questions about Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
“I don’ t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow … them to join NATO,” AP quoted Trump. “I don’t see that happening,” he added.
Additionally, Zelenskyy said the United States, including the previous Biden administration, did not consider Ukraine as a NATO member.
Defense spending by NATO Currently, 23 out of the 32 NATO members are meeting the target of spending 2% of the nation’s GDP on defense.
“We want to make sure that NATO is actually built for the future, and we think a big part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more burden sharing in Europe, so the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia,” AP quoted US Vice President JD Vance.
On Friday, Vance met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy asking NATO members to spend more on defense.
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