According to Reuters, during an expanded meeting of the Defense Council at the National Defense Control Center on December 16, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov declared that Moscow must be ready to confront the NATO military alliance in Europe within the next 10 years, after President Vladimir Putin said that Russia received many benefits from the conflict with Ukraine.
Minister Andrei Belousov pointed to the NATO summit in July and the military doctrines of the US and its Western allies as evidence that Moscow needs to prepare more decisively for direct conflict with NATO in the future.
Several other US military plans were also mentioned by the Russian Defense Minister, including the modernization of nuclear technology, the deployment of a military defense base in Poland and the deployment of medium-range missiles in Germany by 2026.
The minister revealed that the US may soon have a hypersonic missile that will take only about 8 minutes to reach Moscow. He also named some new NATO combat strategies.
“The Defense Ministry’s actions are based on ensuring absolute readiness for any medium-term scenario, including a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe,” Belousov said.
To prepare for possible future conflicts, Mr. Belousov introduced a series of necessary changes and reorganizations, taking into account the nature of the war.
Reuters quoted President Vladimir Putin at a meeting on December 16, saying that the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine is moving in Russia's favor as the country has recorded a significant increase in the number of volunteers joining the army recently.
Mr. Putin said that about 430,000 Russians joined the army this year, an increase of about 300,000 people compared to last year.
Multiple sources also show that the Russian army is advancing at its fastest pace since launching a special military operation in Ukraine in 2022. Mr. Belousov said that Moscow's forces have advanced about 4,500 km² into Ukrainian territory and continue to expand about 30 km² every day.
