An aggressive Russia is a long‑term strategic threat to Europe. It is natural that we want to know as much as possible about this threat, and in fact we know quite well what is happening on the other side of the Narva River or Lakes Peipus and Pskov. In addition to our own intelligence, our allies’ threat assessments help us see even further. So I can state honestly and calmly that nothing is happening there that would in any way confirm the repeatedly rising claims that Russia wants to launch a military attack against a NATO country in this region. […]
But while I say that we currently see no intention from Russia to launch a military attack against NATO allies, I do clearly see Russia’s continuous desire to destabilize Europe, intimidate us, and pressure us into abandoning support for Ukraine.
Moscow has chosen a long confrontation with Western countries and NATO, evidenced by acts of sabotage marked by increasingly aggressive footprints of Russian special services. By now, most NATO allies have seen such activity on their soil; the most recent well‑known case was the attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, for which Germany placed unequivocal responsibility on Russia. Läs artikel