رئيس الأركان الفرنسي: روسيا تهدد أوروبا خلال 5 سنوات

The Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces, Thierry Burkhard, warned that Russia could become a "real threat" to Europe in the next five years, despite its current involvement in the war in Ukraine.

Burkhard said in an interview with the British newspaper "The Economist": "Russia will soon regain its capabilities to pose a military threat to Western countries, especially European ones," and he did not rule out that it might engage in large-scale rearmament, which could exceed $1.1 trillion by 2036, according to estimates from Ukrainian intelligence.

He added: "We cannot win the war by using only expensive missiles; we need to think economically. Sometimes we need Ferrari-type missiles, but we will not win the war with them alone."

Burkhard's warnings come in the context of increasing defense cooperation between France and the United Kingdom, which announced on July 9 a radical change in their nuclear doctrine and pledged to coordinate their nuclear forces in the event that either country faces a direct threat.

For her part, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, considered that supplying Ukraine with more weapons and imposing severe sanctions on Russia are the quickest ways to end the war.

She wrote in a post on her account on the "X" platform today (Friday): "Supplying Ukraine with more weapons and imposing tougher sanctions on Russia is the fastest way to end the war." She added that delivering more air defense systems to Ukraine urgently is our priority.

U.S. President Donald Trump described the strikes carried out by Russian forces on Ukraine late Wednesday-Thursday, which resulted in at least 16 deaths, as "disgusting," affirming his intention to impose new sanctions on Russia due to its invasion of its neighbor. Trump told reporters: "I think what they are doing is disgusting," adding: "We will impose sanctions. I don't know if the sanctions bother Russian President Vladimir Putin, but we will impose them." He stated that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, would head to Russia once his mission in the Middle East is completed.

Trump had given Russia until the end of next week (August 8) to stop fighting in Ukraine, under the threat of imposing severe economic sanctions on it.

The U.S. president is currently considering imposing "secondary" sanctions on Russia, which target countries that buy oil from Moscow specifically, in order to dry up this essential source of revenue for the Russian war machine.