If NATO shows up at Russia’s doorstep, Moscow is ready to respond military and start World War 3. This is the message Russia has just sent to the U.S. after the country deployed its paratroopers to a Serbian airbase.
The move comes amid NATO’s disaster relief drills in Montenegro, which is only 150 miles away from the Serbian airbase.
Russia has just sent hundreds of its paratroopers to Serbia to hold two-week military exercises in response to NATO’s drills in Montenegro.
This is not the first time Russia provokes World War 3 against NATO but this time it’s more serious. First of all, Russia views the post-presidential election America as ‘unpredictable’.
And second of all, this time Russia straightforwardly says that its drills in Serbia are aimed to boost its military strength. Meanwhile, NATO claimed its drills in Montenegro have the goal to teach the country act in disastrous circumstances.
Is NATO prepared to respond to Russia, really?
This is also huge news because Montenegro wants to join NATO. Russia, meanwhile, thinks Montenegro joining the alliance would threaten Moscow’s security.
Both the U.S. and Russia are basically saying to one another: ‘We’re not scared of World War 3’. The two enemies are trying to mark their territory in Eastern Europe.
While Russia is constantly sending shivers down America’s spine by unveiling its revolutionary weapons and holding massive military drills, the U.S. is only catching up.
NATO and the U.S. are doing their best to show Russia that they have presence in Eastern Europe and are prepared to respond militarily in case Russia unleashes World War 3.
But is NATO prepared, really? As Republican candidate Donald Trump assures America, it’s unlikely NATO would come to the Baltics’ rescue if Russia attacks.
In fact, even Vice President Joe Biden had to make an urgent visit in August to all three Baltic states – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The mission of his visit? To assure them that Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Is Trump actually right about this?
Reiterating that America views it as their “sacred honor” to defend all of their allies, including the Baltics, Biden said Trump is wrong. The Vice President, who has very little time left in the White House, said Trump doesn’t understand what Article 5 is.
But is Trump wrong, really? Would the U.S. really be willing to risk the lives of its troops in order to save NATO nations that don’t even contribute enough?
Trump believes that the Baltic States do not deserve to be saved due to the lack of their commitment in NATO.
Today, everyone is talking about World War 3 that could be unleashed in the Suwalki Gap, which is located in Northeast Poland. Experts say Russian President Vladimir Putin has plans to annex this territory, which links Russia’s Kaliningrad, NATO ally Lithuania and Russia’s closest ally, Belarus.
Just like Putin did it in 2014 annexing Crimea because he saw America’s lack of courage to respond, Putin could do it again with the Suwalki Gap.
But would Putin annexing the Suwalki Gap unleash World War 3? Or would it turn into a conflict similar to that in Crimea today?
Russia wins World War 3 preparations
Russia has been by far more intimidating in its war preparations than NATO lately. Putin indeed views Eastern Europe as the territory that belongs to Russia, which is why he sends clear World War 3 warnings to the West.
In late October, Russia sent ships carrying nuclear missiles into the Baltics. The move came just hours after NATO announced its largest military buildup near the Russian border since the Cold War era.
A day earlier, Russia had unveiled its terrifying Satan 2 nuclear weapon, which is so powerful it can wipe out an area the size of Texas in one blow.
Russia has a whopping 330,000 of its blood-thirsty troops stationed close to NATO’s borders.
In October, Russia also moved a battery of intermediate-range Iskander-M missiles into Kaliningrad (read: the Suwalki Gap).
The Iskanders are a threat to NATO because they have a range of more than 300 miles and the capacity to carry nuclear warheads into Poland. It also makes America no less scared that Russian advanced fighter jets regularly violate Estonian and Finnish airspace.
NATO is INCAPABLE of countering Russia’s threat
But what does NATO have to offer against all this? Not much.
The U.S. recently announced it was forming four battle groups with Germany, the U.K. and Canada that would be comprised of only 4,000 troops. That’s in addition to 800 British troops and a few Challenger tanks scheduled to enter Estonia next spring.
There are also about 300 rotating American troops in Lithuania. And that’s pretty much it.
NATO’s 40,000 rapid-reaction force shouldn’t be even considered as a serious counterweight to Russia if Putin unleashes World War 3. That’s because NATO itself admitted that it would take the alliance up to 48 hours to deploy the rapid force.
Well, given Russia’s vast and intimidating nuclear arsenal, Putin can make a real mess of things within those 48 hours.
And that’s considering that fact that in early October Russia pulled out of the nuclear nonproliferation agreement with the U.S. The move was interpreted as a direct warning to the West that Russia is preparing for a nuclear World War 3.
World War 3: odds and predictions
So what are the odds that Putin could unleash World War 3 amid the presidential election in the U.S.? It’s a 50-50 probability.
Russia has no idea what to expect from the U.S. after it chooses its next leader, Republican candidate Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Although Clinton has accused Trump of being Russia’s ‘puppet’ numerous times, the Republican candidate is actually not Russia’s agent. But he does unintentionally serve Russia’s interest. Read more in my recent analysis for ValueWalk.
Interestingly, Trump says Clinton is no angel either. The Republican candidate accuses his rival of wanting to unleash World War 3 against Russia.
Last month, speaking to journalists during the BRICS summit, Putin himself admitted that he has no idea what to expect from the post-presidential election America.
Putin said there is no telling yet whether Trump is going to realize his intentions to cooperate with Russia. Just like there is no telling whether Clinton will realize her harsh rhetoric towards Russia.
