Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s feigned interest in a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine war during last month’s summit in Alaska with President Donald Trump, his subsequent actions make clear he has no interest in pursuing a settlement.
Since the meeting, Russian attacks on Ukraine have intensified, and a series of recent Russian jet and drone incursions into the airspace of NATO members Poland, Romania, and Estonia have deepened Western fears over the potential for a wider war — one Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long warned of.
Although Putin denies he is gearing up for a confrontation with NATO, he has repeatedly shown that his word is meaningless.
As dramatic as the prospect of war with Russia may seem, Reuters reports that Germany and France are already making plans for precisely that scenario. According to Reuters:
Germany’s armed forces are planning how to treat a potential 1,000 wounded troops per day should a large-scale conflict between NATO and Russia break out, and amid long-standing warnings by the alliance that Moscow could be capable of launching an attack from 2029….Ukrainian soldiers describe the drone-infested corridor covering about 10 km either side of the frontline as the “kill zone” because remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) deployed by both sides can swiftly spot and neutralise targets.
Germany’s Surgeon General Ralf Hoffmann told Reuters, “The nature of warfare has changed dramatically in Ukraine. … The Ukrainians often cannot evacuate their wounded fast enough because drones are buzzing overhead everywhere.”
Hoffmann emphasized “the need for prolonged stabilization of injured soldiers – sometimes for hours – at the frontline.”
Hoffmann said flexible transport options were needed for wounded troops, noting Ukraine has used hospital trains. For this reason, the German military is looking at hospital trains and buses and expanding medical evacuation by air, he said.The wounded would undergo initial treatment at the frontline, before being transported back to Germany for care predominantly in civilian hospitals, Hoffmann added.He estimated a need for approximately 15,000 hospital beds from German hospitals’ total capacity of up to 440,000.The German military’s 15,000-strong medical service would be expanded to meet future demands, he added.
Germany isn’t the only NATO country making preparations for a possible conflict with Russia. France has “revealed hospitals are preparing for 10,000–50,000 casualties by 2026.”
While a direct clash between NATO and Russia is not considered imminent, it is wiser to have a plan in place than to be caught off guard.
Following an extremely cordial meeting with Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, a reporter asked Trump if NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.
“Yes, I do,” he replied.
Another reporter asked if Trump would back up our NATO allies if they were to do so.
He said, “It depends on the circumstance, but you know, we’re very strong toward NATO. NATO’s stepped up. When they went from 2% to 5%, that was great unity.”
In response to another question, Trump mocked the Russian president as a “paper tiger.”
During his morning address to the General Assembly, Trump indicated he had run out of patience with Putin. He said, “In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly.”
He stressed the need for NATO members to stop buying oil from Russia which he sees as helping to fund the war against Ukraine. “Europe has to step it up. They can’t be doing what they’re doing.”
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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