Putin could attack NATO in ‘5 to 8 years,’ German defense minister warns

An increasingly belligerent Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack the NATO military alliance in less than a decade, Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned.

"We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day ... so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day," Pistorius told German outlet Der Tagesspiegel in an interview published Friday.

While a Russian attack is not likely "for now," the minister added: "Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible."

Following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has upped its aggressive rhetoric against some of its neighbors — including the Baltic countries and Poland, which are all members of NATO, and Moldova — prompting top European defense officials to warn of the risk of a major conflict.

On Wednesday, the chair of NATO's military committee of national chiefs Admiral Rob Bauer said the military alliance faced "the most dangerous world in decades" and called for a "warfighting transformation of NATO."

Earlier this month, Sweden's commander-in-chief General Micael Bydén similarly called on Swedes to "prepare themselves mentally" for war.

The same day, Sweden's Minister for Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin also warned that “war could come to Sweden."

In his interview with Der Tagesspiegel, Pistorius said the Swedish warnings were "understandable from a Scandinavian perspective," adding that Sweden faced "an even more serious situation," given its proximity to Russia. It is also not yet a member of the NATO alliance, waiting for approval from Turkey and Hungary to join.

"But we also have to learn to live with danger again and prepare ourselves — militarily, socially and in terms of civil defense," Pistorius warned.

Poland, which is spending more than 4 percent of its GDP on defense this year, is also worried about Russia's unpredictability following the unexpected attack on Ukraine in 2022.

"Russia is defying logic. What happened in 2022 seemed impossible. We must be ready for any scenario," Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a television interview earlier this week.

Late last year, Germany revamped its military and strategic doctrine for the first time since 2011, aiming to turn the Bundeswehr into a war-capable military.

“War has returned to Europe. Germany and its allies once again have to deal with a military threat. The international order is under attack in Europe and around the globe. We are living in a turning point," said the first paragraph of the new doctrine.

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, an outspoken Putin critic who has been one of the loudest voices in support of Ukraine in the EU, on Thursday called on Europe to speed up preparations for more Russian aggression.

"There's a chance that Russia might not be contained in Ukraine," Landsbergis told French newswire AFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "There is no scenario in this that if Ukraine doesn't win, that could end well for Europe," he warned.

This article has been updated.