Once Ukraine falls, Putin will set his sights on three Baltic countries – Moldova, Georgia and Romania – where he will try to manipulate elections to ensure his loyalists seize power.
Is Russian President Vladimir Putin simply buying time before launching a devastating attack across Europe after his annihilation of Ukraine? With close aides to Donald Trump, the new US President, shouting that America has left NATO and will therefore leave Europe to face the might of the Russian military on its own, the prospect of Putin unleashing his forces on other vulnerable countries is real, claims a former senior British army general, Sir Richard Shirreff. The officer, who also served as NATO’s deputy supreme commander in Europe, believes Russian forces will attack at least three more European countries within two years unless an effective deterrent is put in place.
3 GOALS
Criticizing Trump for abandoning Ukraine, the former deputy supreme commander of NATO allies in Europe, in an interview with a UK newspaper, declared that the US President had dealt a “mortal blow” to the formidable military alliance. Trump’s decisions to halt arms supplies to Ukraine, as well as to stop intelligence sharing, are a clear signal to Putin’s commanders to do everything they can against Kiev and ultimately other European nations, he claimed.
The general claimed that once Ukraine falls, Putin will set his sights on three Baltic states – Moldova, Georgia and Romania – where he will try to rig elections to ensure his loyalists take power. With the Trump administration unlikely to come to Europe’s aid, he urged that time is running out for the UK and other Western countries, who must establish a robust supply line of advanced weaponry for Ukrainian forces and also boost NATO defenses.
WORST SCENARIO
The claim that such a move would send a clear signal to Putin that if he looks at sending his forces to the Baltics, a united Europe will give him a “bloody nose.” “The way to avoid and prevent that from happening is by mobilizing and preparing for the worst-case scenario and making it 100 percent clear to Putin that if he tries anything in the Baltic states, his nose will bleed. But you can’t do that until you’ve done the building,” he asserted.
He also warned that Ukraine would be lost to Russia if the US-sponsored deal goes ahead. “It gives Putin the opportunity to declare victory and rearm, regenerate and rebuild his armed forces. And then when he does that, he will finish Ukraine.” Sir Shirreff came up with a final scenario of Russia invading Ukraine, claiming that Putin would launch a devastating attack on the Baltic states. “It looks like deportation of children, rape of women and massacre of civilians. This is what happens when Russia attacks. First it will be missiles, then work,” he claimed.
REPEAT OF MARIUPOLI
This, the Briton said, would lead to a direct war between European countries and Moscow. The attack would follow previous patterns of the Russian military. He recalled the destruction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. “The expulsion of children, the rape of women and the massacre of civilians, that’s what happens when Russia attacks. First there will be missiles and then everything else will start,” he said.
We know how Mariupol went: it was razed to the ground and children were forcibly evicted. In the Kiev suburb of Bucha, civilians were found with their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds to the head. Many women were raped. Richard Shirreff also said that Europe should continue to arm Ukraine, while adding that those countries that remain in NATO should consider compulsory military service.
