Moscow's forces engaging in new conflict? Russian official says Ukraine could trigger full-scale war in Europe

A high-ranking Russian military official has warned that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has the potential to escalate into a full-fledged war across Europe.

According to a Reuters report, citing state RIA news agency, Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, who leads the Russian army’s Military Academy of the General Staff, expressed in an article published in ‘Military Thought’, a defence ministry publication, that the likelihood of Moscow’s forces engaging in a new conflict is “significantly” increasing.

“The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine - from the expansion of participants in ‘proxy forces’ used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe - cannot be ruled out,” Reuters quoted him as saying to RIA.

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“The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are conducting a new type of hybrid warfare in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity,” he added.

“The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing.”

The conflict in Ukraine has triggered a deep crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. President Vladimir Putin has cautioned that the West risks inciting a nuclear confrontation by deploying troops to intervene in Ukraine.

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Putin framed his decision to deploy tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 as a necessary military operation to safeguard Russia’s security against a perceived threat from the increasingly hostile Ukrainian leadership, supported by the United States.

Conversely, Kyiv asserts that it is defending itself against an aggressive campaign aimed at subjugating its national identity.

Zarudnitsky’s remarks come at a pivotal moment as Western nations rush to bolster Ukraine with additional military support and financial aid following Kyiv’s unsuccessful counteroffensive last summer, amidst a backdrop of Russian forces gaining momentum on the battlefield.

According to Reuters, citing RIA, Zarudnitsky proposed several reforms to Russia’s military and security apparatus, advocating for a greater reliance on allied nations to ensure Russia’s security and fostering national unity around defence priorities.

With inputs from agencies