Sign up for our breaking news emails to get real-time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up for free breaking news emails
Norway’s defense minister has called on his country to prepare for a possible conflict with Russia even after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ends.
He said Russia could retaliate in response to Finland and Sweden’s new NATO membership. Other NATO countries have also clearly warned in recent months of Russian aggression and plans to destroy peace in the region.
“We must prepare for the possibility that Russia may reassess its plans and where its forces are deployed in response to Finland and Sweden joining NATO,” Björn Arild Gramm said in a speech at the Oslo Military Association General Assembly on Monday. It must be done,” he said.
The official noted that negotiations are underway to bring Sweden into NATO, with Turkey and Hungary pending Sweden’s application. Finland became the 31st member state to join the North Atlantic region in April last year, triggering Russia, which views the alliance’s combined military power as a threat.
Graham said the Norwegian military must be prepared in the event a conflict breaks out. “We must be able to work with our allies to respond in a timely manner,” he said.
Norway needs to increase investment in defense, he said.
He said that all new signs of democracy in Russia have been quashed, adding: “There is no sign that Russia will become like us.”
“The few Russians who are protesting are being thrown into prison or sent to war, where they are used as cannon fodder,” he said. There is no opposition in Russia, no free press, no civil society. It could “somehow counter an increasingly authoritarian regime,” he added.
In his speech, Gram said that this new Russia “will be with us for a long time” even after the war with Ukraine ends.
Last month, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned that Russia was likely to attack NATO countries within five to eight years.
“We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day… so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin may even attack NATO countries someday,” he told German media. . Der Tagesspiegel.
“Our experts predict that it will take five to eight years before this becomes possible,” the German minister said.
In December, Jacek Siewiera, head of Poland’s National Security Agency, estimated in an interview that Russia could attack NATO countries within three years. Naz Jenik.
He said an attack could come from NATO’s eastern flank, which includes countries such as Poland, Estonia, Romania and Lithuania, and estimated that preparations for a confrontation would take three years.
Michael Biden, Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces and Minister of Civil Defense, warned that all Swedes must prepare for war.