Putin’s ally in Europe says NATO preparing for war “much faster”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said Monday that he believed NATO member states were rapidly preparing for a potential war with Russia.

“They are not ready now, but I think they will be ready. They are already preparing for a conflict with the Russian Federation and are preparing much faster than some people would like to see, in every sense,” Vučić told the Serbian TV channel Pink, according to Russia’s state-run news agency Tass.

“We know this from military preparations. We know how they are being conducted. And I want to tell you, they are preparing for a military conflict,” he said.

Newsweek has contacted NATO for comment by email.

Russia is Serbia’s key ally in blocking international recognition of its former province of Kosovo, and Vučić has insisted that he would not take sides in the Russia-Ukraine war. He refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow following President Vladimir Putin‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On July 2, after meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko in Belgrade, Vučić described relations between Serbia and Russia as “very good.” His country, however, has indirectly provided Ukraine with ammunition worth about 800 million euros ($871,000,000), FT reported.

Vučić said Monday that “the West, as long as people from the West do not die, or only volunteers die, does not care how many Ukrainians die.”

Tensions between Russia and the West have remained high throughout Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has accused the alliance of involvement in the war by providing Kyiv with military assistance and weapons.

The Serbian leader’s remarks came weeks after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that the military alliance has more than 500,000 troops on high readiness, meaning forces could be deployed within 30 days.

“Since 2014, NATO has undergone the most significant transformation in our collective defense in a generation. We have put in place the most comprehensive defense plans since the Cold War,” Stoltenberg said on June 18, at a joint press briefing with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“We have 500,000 troops at high readiness, and we have doubled the number of battle groups in the eastern part of the Alliance,” Stoltenberg continued. He described Russia’s war in Ukraine as “a brutal assault on a peaceful democratic nation.”

“This war is propped up by China, North Korea and Iran. They want to see the United States fail. They want to see NATO fail. If they succeed in Ukraine, it will make us more vulnerable and the world more dangerous. So our support for Ukraine is not charity. It is in our own security interest,” he said.

Stoltenberg added: “We all want this war to end. But a Russian occupation of Ukraine offers no peace. And capitulation to Putin offers no security. The stronger our support, the sooner the war will end.”

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