Carmen Valero Berlin

Berlin

Updated Thursday, February 29, 2024-16:29

  • Russia Putin warns NATO that the consequences of sending troops to Ukraine will be "tragic"

The threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin to NATO countries in the event that they send ground troops to Ukraine is real for countries like Poland that were part of its territories of influence until the expansion of the Alliance to the East in 1997. For That, the European Union's damning response to Putin's State of the Nation address was not enough.

Polish Prime Minister

Donald

Tusk has

called for action

, an all-out military race to match Russian military potential at the European level.

"Europe must understand that this new arms race that Russia is imposing on the world and the Russian aggression in Ukraine

must cause an awakening in all European capitals

and in the EU as a whole," Tusk declared in an appearance in Warsaw with the first Latvian minister, Evika Silina.

The Polish premier calls for "decisions to match Russia's military potential and make

Europe better and not worse armed

and prepared."

For Tusk, after Putin's words anticipating a nuclear conflict that would end civilization on Earth,

European rearmament is an "absolute necessity

. "

"Putin's words about Russia arming itself and moving de facto into a war economy are true. It is not just an aggressive speech," Tusk said, adding that the decisions announced by the Russian leader to increase Russia's self-sufficiency and modernize its armed forces must be taken "totally seriously."

Putin announced this Thursday that Russia has fulfilled the development plans for all the newest missiles and weapons announced by the Kremlin in 2018, part of which have already been delivered to the Russian Armed Forces and even used in the war in Ukraine.

"We have already done or completed the work on everything we planned in the field of arms, which I announced in my 2018 message," he stated in his State of the Nation address to both houses of Parliament.

Putin added that work on a whole series of new weapons systems continues and announced that "we will soon learn about new achievements of our scientists and weapons manufacturers."

In

Germany

, Putin's speech continues to be analyzed, but voices have already emerged from parliamentarians highlighting the seriousness of the content and at a time when, beyond the elections to which he will attend in two weeks and which are already considered won ,

worrying movements

are detected

in the separatist region of

Transnistria

, in the Republic of Moldova.

Poland and the Baltic countries have been warning for months that Germany, France and the rest of Europe would also have to

maximize arms production

by government decree to restore to some extent the arms equality of the Cold War.

The reason is simple: Europe is currently unable to produce enough weapons for either Ukraine or itself.

"There is a principle known since ancient times: if

you want peace, prepare for war

," said German MP Norbert Rötteng, for whom this is especially true when you have as a neighbor a cynical murderer who brutally exploits any weakness.