NATO would 'wipe out Russia's army in a matter of months' if the alliance were to deploy all its might in Ukraine… but experts warn victory would come at a major cost - and Putin would almost certainly go nuclear
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The Russia-Ukraine conflict is grinding toward its third year as winter snow blankets the battlegrounds of Eastern Europe and casualties continue to climb. Tens of thousands of lives have been claimed, entire towns flattened and millions of civilians displaced in what has become the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
![[A Swedish artillery team fires a projectile from an Archer self-propelled Howitzer during the NATO 'Exercise Lightning Strike' on November 20, 2024]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/17/93361329-14213763-image-a-5_1734715524056.jpg)
Yet now, some 30 months after Vladimir Putin ordered his troops across the Ukrainian border, the bitter winds blowing through the trenches and windowless blown-out buildings could soon change amid rumblings that a ceasefire is on the horizon. A major factor in this emerging possibility is the looming presidency of Donald Trump, who is expected to push for a deal to freeze the conflict in place, potentially leaving parts of Ukraine under Russian control and deploying Western peacekeepers to patrol the contact line.
![[A member of Ukraine's 72nd Brigade Anti-air unit fires at a Russian Zala reconnaissance drone near Marinka, Ukraine]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/17/91981523-14213763-A_member_of_Ukraine_s_72nd_Brigade_Anti_air_unit_fires_at_a_Russ-a-1_1734715426625.jpg)
For Kyiv this would be a bitter pill, albeit one that would at least temporarily stem the bloodshed; for Moscow, an extremely costly short-term win. But for NATO, it raises a haunting question: What if their peacekeepers become targets and the alliance is drawn directly into the war?.
![[View from cockpit of U.S. Air Force F-16 shows a Russian Su-35 jet cutting across its nose at extreme close range]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/17/93361179-14213763-image-a-12_1734716908190.jpg)
It's an unlikely prospect, but with East-West tensions higher now than at any other time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, one that must be considered. The idea of a large-scale conflict between Russia and the Western-led security bloc is enough to have even the most seasoned strategists waking up with a jolt in a cold sweat - the cataclysm-inducing nuclear button is never far from reach.
![[Trump and his supporters have roundly criticised the scale of US military and financial support for Kyiv, and he previously labelled Zelensky 'the greatest salesman on Earth']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/17/91969511-14213763-Trump_and_his_supporters_have_roundly_criticised_the_scale_of_US-a-2_1734715429698.jpg)
