Russia is preparing for new military operations in Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the eve of his trip to this week's NATO summit in The Hague, Breitbart reported Monday.
Zelenskyy said in his statement that "[we] have evidence that [the Russians] are preparing new military operations on the territory of Europe. … We will inform partners about the facts that our intelligence has obtained. We are preparing joint defense solutions together, in particular with Britain and the European Union."
The Ukrainian president also said in the statement that Russia is suffering "intellectual decline" and that Western sanctions are causing "tangible damage" to the country's economy.
This illustrates that sanctions on Russia should be intensified, he added.
Dutch Adm. Rob Bauer, who until earlier this year was the military head of the NATO alliance and who is promoting a book, also talked about the danger emanating from Moscow.
He told the German newspaper Die Welt in an interview on Monday that Russia is already carrying out constant "hybrid warfare" attacks against Europe, such as "assassinations, arson, cyberattacks."
Bauer also moved to play down wider concerns, however, stating that the Kremlin's apparent obsession with NATO is mostly rhetorical. For instance, he said, "we certainly know that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin doesn't see NATO as an immediate threat."
Zelenskyy arrived in London on Monday to meet with senior British leaders and is scheduled on Tuesday to travel to the Netherlands for the NATO summit.
As the leader of a nonmember state invited as a guest to the summit, Zelenskyy will not be able to attend the main NATO meetings but will have discussions with other leaders there.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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