Germany must prepare for a possible Russian attack by 2029, or even earlier. This was warned by the commander of the German ground forces, Lieutenant General Christian Freuding, quoted by "Politico".
"We must be prepared. We must be ready to fight," he said.
According to him, there is broad agreement among NATO allies that Russia could acquire the ability to attack Alliance territory before the end of the decade.
"2029 is not a German deadline. This is an intelligence assessment shared by NATO. "All 32 member states agree that Russia could have the capacity to invade a NATO country in 2029," Freuding said.
However, he warned that Moscow could act earlier, even though the war in Ukraine has entered its fourth year and Kiev claims that Russia has suffered more than 1.3 million killed and seriously injured servicemen, as well as significant losses of equipment.
The German general's statement comes amid warnings from European military officials that Russia could rebuild its military potential sufficiently in the next few years to pose a direct conventional threat to NATO territory.
For defense planners, 2029 has become a benchmark for the moment by which Europe must overcome critical deficits in combat readiness, weapons production and military capabilities.
According to Freuding, Germany has already taken significant steps to accelerate military orders, and the defense industry has increased its production capacity.
However, he stressed that Berlin cannot rely solely on long-term weapons programs that take years to develop and implement.
"Speed is crucial right now", the general emphasized.
He said that for some systems that are still under development, Germany needs intermediate solutions to fill the gap between available capabilities and the required level of combat readiness.
"Every day we must improve our capabilities for "combat operations tonight", said Freuding, referring to the Bundeswehr's new concept for maintaining forces at a high level of readiness designed to deter potential Russian aggression.