Russia could attack NATO as early as 2026 – Polish president

Russia may have the military capability to attack NATO as early as 2026-27.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said this in an interview with CNBC.The Polish president defended his recent proposal to increase the required threshold for NATO defence spending from 2 to 3% of GDP.
"From my point of view, it’s a question of common sense. New reports are coming in, and I recently saw one by German experts which said that soon, perhaps as early as 2026 or 2027, Putin, by putting his economy on a war footing, will have such military might that he will be able to attack NATO," Duda said.
"The alarm bells are ringing. We have two or three years in which we can increase our efforts, stockpile ammunition and produce weapons to maximise European security, get ready and make sure the invasion does not happen," he added.
He also urged the US to continue to support Ukraine, warning that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, the cost will rise sharply later.
"This Russian aggression has to be stopped at all cost. If it’s not stopped it will spill over and then, I fear US money won’t be enough to stop Russia: US soldiers will have to step in and no one wants that," Duda said.
At the same time, he said that "every dollar donated to support Ukraine, every Bradley transferred to Ukraine, every weapon transferred to Ukraine, every box of artillery ammunition transferred to Ukraine staves off the Russian victory".
Earlier, German intelligence services had prepared an analysis for the German government examining the military threat posed by Russia, which predicted that it could attack the territory of NATO member states "starting in 2026".
In recent weeks, a number of European NATO countries have warned of the risk of Russian aggression in the near future. For example, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in January that the Alliance should prepare for a Russian attack on a NATO country within 5-8 years.