Morning Note

Russia's defense minister Andrei Belousov said Monday that Russia must be ready to fight NATO in Europe within the next ten years.

"The activities of the Ministry of Defense are based on ... ensuring full readiness for any scenario in the medium term, including a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade," he told an audience including Vladimir Putin.

Belousov cited numerous examples of growing national security threats to justify his call, including the opening of a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, new NATO combat readiness plans, and plans to deploy U.S. medium-range missiles in Germany in 2026.

Putin also spoke at the summit, boasting about his country’s increased military readiness and accusing the West of pushing Russia to its “red lines.” "They are simply scaring their own population that we are going to attack someone there using the pretext of the mythical Russian threat," the president said. "The tactic is very simple: they push us to 'a red line', from which we cannot retreat, we start to respond and then they immediately scare their population."

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