Great Britain and its NATO allies will face direct opposition from Russian President Vladimir Putin within a few months. As the Daily Mail writes, citing intelligence sources, Putin plans to "test" the new government of Andy Barnum, while Donald Trump is focused on Iran, reports Focus.
The publication emphasizes that Moscow is already trying to exhaust Britain's resources by redirecting its "shadowy" fleet of oil tankers to bypass the English Channel – one of them was already captured there by British marines last month. However, there is currently a possibility of much more serious provocations from Moscow.
"There is currently a strong belief that Putin is preparing some kind of direct confrontation with NATO in the next few months. A number of factors are influencing this – "the belief that Trump was kidnapped by Iran, as well as signs of a split in the Ukrainian leadership," one of the sources of the publication noted.
In addition, according to the source of the British media, Putin's disappointment with the course of the war in Ukraine has also played its role: "There is a feeling that if Putin does not somehow manage to change the situation on the battlefield, the war will be lost".
At the same time, he adds that the change of government in Britain will also force the Russian president "to try to investigate Barnum and see if he can take advantage of any disagreements between the old and new administrations".
At the same time, the new Defense Minister Wes Streeting reacted decisively to any potential actions by Moscow.
"There should be no doubts in Russia about the determination of this government and this prime minister to oppose the Russian aggression not only in Ukraine, but also any aggression against Great Britain and our allies“, he emphasizes.
Earlier, the Supreme Commander of NATO's Joint Forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, noted that the main challenge for the West is restoring the ability to produce weapons in large quantities.
Thus, he recalled that Russia lost over 4,000 main battle tanks in this war. Moreover, in Great Britain there are about 200 of them, in France - the operating fleet is about 220, and in Canada - 74.
In addition, OSINT analysts note that the common border of NATO countries with Russia still remains practically unprotected, despite the loud statements of politicians about the threat of a Russian invasion and the supposedly active preparation for it.