German defence minister rules out full-scale Russia–NATO war

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said he does not believe in a scenario involving a full-scale war between Russia and NATO, while stressing the need to strengthen armed forces. He made the remarks in an interview with Die Zeit.

Commenting on NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s statement that the Alliance must be ready for a war “on the scale of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers,” Pistorius said:

“I do not believe in such a scenario. In my view, Putin does not intend to wage a full-scale global war against NATO.”

According to Pistorius, Moscow’s strategy is aimed at undermining Alliance unity and testing its response to airspace violations. “Will Allied Eurofighters remain on the ground because such incidents are no longer taken seriously? Will they step back because nothing happens? Or are they prepared to invoke Article 5 if something occurs on the borders of the Baltic states? Putin is strategically working to push the Americans to withdraw,” he added.

For Germany, he said, this means the need to increase the size of the army and its reserves. Pistorius noted that the Bundeswehr has accelerated arms procurement and has been setting records for three consecutive years, but a key challenge remains expanding production capacity and replenishing stockpiles — something that cannot be achieved “overnight.”

By Vugar Khalilov