Zelensky warns Putin could invade Nato in months – how do their militaries compare?

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. Vladimir Putin is preparing to wage war on Nato after failing to occupy all of Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned as efforts to put an end to the war take centre stage at the Munich Security Conference this weekend. Citing intelligence Ukraine has shared with allies about the Russian army’s ongoing military exercises in Belarus, the leader pointed to prospect of a larger-scale Russian invasion elsewhere in Europe as early as this summer.

He told NBC: ‘Knowing that he did not succeed in occupying us, we do not know where he will go. ‘There are risks that this can be Poland and Lithuania, because we believe – we believe that Putin will wage war against Nato.’. Not since the Cold War have tensions been so high as European allies have warned that Russia poses a threat to countries beyond Ukraine. In theory, this makes the Western military alliance more relevant than ever in the face of such threat.

In reality – behind closed doors – fears are mounting that Donald Trump will abandon Nato as a security guarantor. At the Munich conference, Zelensky reiterated the importance of Nato to Us vice president JD Vance. He predicted that without the threat of US military retaliation, Russia would begin occupying parts of Europe, particularly the former Soviet nations. ‘They will begin from those countries … small countries who have been in the Soviet Union,’ Zelensky stressed.

‘But Europe will not answer, because they do not have – they will begin to defend itself. Each country defends itself.’. Nato is already testing its ability to rapidly deploy across Eastern Europe – without direct US assistance – as Washington shifts its approach toward European defence. With the US, its military strength overwhelmingly surpasses Russia’s due to the combined capabilities of its 31 member states.

Its total budget exceeds $1 trillion, compared to the estimated $100 billion that Russia has. If the US is removed from the equation, Nato remains stronger – but only by a much smaller margin. This is also shown in the number of active and reserve personnel. Currently, 23 of 32 member nations are meeting the agreed-upon target of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defence. Britain and the US are two of them, but Trump is pushing for the figure to be raised to 5%.

European allies are pushing back that the White House’s characterisations of a dependent Europe does not play out in the data. The continent has rallied to get behind Ukraine since Putin launched the war. The US has poured more than $66 billion in weapons and military aid into Ukraine, while European and other allies have sent $60 billion in weaponry. ‘We have put in place hard-hitting sanctions, substantially weakening Russia’s economy,’ EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in remarks to the conference.

‘We have broken one taboo after another and smashed our reliance on Russian gas, making us more resilient permanently. And we are about to do more.’. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Nuclear expert issues Chernobyl update after it emerges fires are still burning. Arrow MORE: New evidence reveals Putin critic Alexei Navalny ‘was poisoned before his death’.