Putin could attack a NATO member says Zelensky in chilling new warning | World | News
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Vladimir Putin could be ready to attack NATO within five years as he urged them to accelerate plans to increase defence spending. The Ukrainian leader made the claims ahead of this week’s NATO summit as he warned of Russia’s long-term strategy to test the resolve of the alliance’s commitment to article 5.
It comes as NATO members agree to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by the middle of the next decade, a timeline Zelensky believes is not fast enough. He said: “Very slowly, in my view this is slow because we believe, starting from 2030, Putin could have much greater capabilities. Today, Ukraine is holding him up, he has no time to drill the army and they are all getting wiped out and annihilated on the battlefield.
In an interview with Sky News, he added: “In any case, Putin needs a pause, he needs sanctions to be lifted, he needs a drilled army as he has got more than a million people wounded or dead.
“And 10 years is a very long time. He will have a new army ready by then.”
Zelensky believes that Putin is “not ready” to attack a NATO country in a matter of months but warned that he is only years away from testing how the alliance would react if an ally was attacked.
Under article 5 of NATO’s treaty, nation states are obliged to come to the aid of a fellow member if they are attacked, with an attack on one treated as an attack on all.
Earlier this week it was reported that NATO members will announce this week that they have agreed to spend 5% of GDP on defence spending by 2035.
The pledge more than doubles the existing pledge of 2% in the wake of rising global tensions.
NATO secretary general Mark Rutte has long called for a dramatic increase in defence spending, as has US President Donald Trump, with the commitment expected to be rubberstamped at this week’s gathering of leaders.
The spending is likely to be roughly broken down into 3.5% on conventional defence spending such as bombs and bullets with a further 1.5% on enabling infrastructure and equipment.
