Germany assesses Russia's possible attack on NATO: there are estimates that it could happen by 2029

Minister of Defense of Germany Boris Pistorius said that Berlin has always believed that Russia could sufficiently rebuild its troops and attack the eastern NATO member state from 2029, but now there are estimates that this could happen earlier. The politician said this in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

The journalist reminded Pistorius of what he had said about Germany's change of course to strengthen its defense, which would take time. He asked whether Germany had that time and whether it was possible that Russia would attack much sooner. The interviewer noted that the dictator Vladimir Putin "is rapidly building up its arsenal" despite the war against Ukraine.

"This question remains speculative. Military experts and intelligence services can roughly estimate when Russia will rebuild its armed forces to the point where it will be able to attack a NATO member state in the east. We have always said that this could happen from 2029," Pistorius said.

However, he added, "there are others who say that this is possible as early as 2028," and some military historians even believe that the past summer was the last peaceful one.

"We should not create the impression that NATO is not capable of defending itself. It is capable. It has a significant deterrence potential. Conventionally, but, of course, also nuclear. Regardless, we have capable armed forces, but, yes, we need to equip them even better," the politician summarized.

• Earlier, in October, the head of the German intelligence service said that Russia is allegedly ready to enter into a direct military conflict with NATO, and that this may happen before 2029.

• Meanwhile, in early November, President Zelensky announced the strengthening of the Patriot component of Ukraine's air defense system by new aid from Germany.

• Germany will invest about 490 million euros in the development and procurement of DefendAir anti-drone missiles.