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Russia should prepare for multiple scenarios, including a war with NATO, in the next 10 years, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said during a Defense Ministry meeting on Dec. 16, the Interfax news agency reported.
Speaking about a possible confrontation with the alliance, Belousov pointed to unspecified changes in NATO countries' doctrines and conclusions reached during the Washington summit in July.
“(Preparing for war) is indicated by the decisions that were made at the North Atlantic Alliance summit held in July of this year. This is also reflected in the doctrinal documents of the United States and other NATO countries," Belousov said.
During NATO’s 75th-anniversary celebration and summit in July, Ukraine received more air defense systems, $43 billion in funding, a NATO representative in Kyiv, and new bilateral security agreements, as well as the pledge that its path toward membership is "irreversible."
Tensions between NATO and Russia have been mounting since the allied countries began providing arms and other support to Ukraine after the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. Moscow has issued a number of veiled and overt threats to the West over its support for Kyiv, including warnings of a possible nuclear response.
Multiple Western officials have raised warnings about a possible open clash with Russia in the coming years, with NATO leaders calling for increasing the defense spending benchmark from 2% to 3% of gross domestic product.
Speaking at the meeting, Belousov claimed that Ukraine lost "almost 1 million people" during the full-scale war, a figure much higher than the numbers provided by Kyiv and the Western media.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine suffered 43,000 soldiers killed and 400,000 injured, while The Economist estimated Kyiv's casualties at 60,000-100,000 killed and 400,000 injured.
Belousov also announced the planned creation of a military branch dedicated to unmanned systems, which should be finalized in the third quarter of 2025. Ukraine already established the Unmanned Systems Forces in September this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke at the meeting, accusing the West of "pushing Russia to a red line from which we can no longer retreat." He further said that NATO is increasing its military presence near the Russian border and in other regions of the world.
The Kremlin's chief went on to accuse the U.S. of preparing a deployment of missiles with a range of "up to 5,500 kilometers" in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, saying that Russia will lift "all restrictions" on the deployment of its own weapons if Washington takes this step.
Russia withdrew from multiple treaties on nuclear arms during the full-scale war and deployed a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, Oreshnik, in a strike against Dnipro in November.
Putin also claimed that Russian forces had conquered 189 settlements in Ukraine this year and that "over 1,000" people sign contracts with Russia's Defense Ministry every day to join the war.
Kateryna Hodunova
