Dmitry Trenin, president of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), warned in an op-ed that Europe’s belligerent stance toward Russia risks triggering a war that could spell the end of NATO.
Trenin argued that European elites are pursuing what he described as “Russia’s destruction as a major power,” rather than merely deterring it as during the Cold War. He noted they have used the Ukraine conflict as a convenient opportunity.
“The European NATO leaders’ enormous deficit of modern strategic culture – unsurprising after eight decades of delegating their security to the United States – and their blind Russophobia, which stems from deep-seated European racism and real or perceived historical grudges against Russia over the last five centuries, have placed Europe on a direct collision course with Russia,” Trenin stated. “This strategy essentially means war.”
Trenin identified the fundamental flaw in this approach as the belief that “Russia would rather accept defeat, degradation and disintegration than use the arsenal which it currently possesses.” He warned that both Russian leadership and ordinary people would not “surrender to NATO,” and that “there will be no more NATO” if a war breaks out.
Last year, NATO members pledged to increase annual defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Some European leaders and top military commanders have argued the West must prepare for a potential war with Russia by the end of this decade—a claim the Kremlin has dismissed as baseless and dangerous warmongering.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia would not attack a NATO country unless first attacked. Meanwhile, Moscow has warned that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine increase the risk of direct confrontation.
