VLADIMIR Putin will cause Europe to suffer “things we cannot even imagine” as the Russian tyrant gears up for World War Three, according to a German army general.
Major General Wolf-Jürgen Stahl, the president of the Federal Academy for Security Policy, also claimed that Germany is already battling relentless cyber attacks from the Kremlin.
Speaking at the German-British society, he said: “When I see how Putin has acted up to now, and the way that he is in my assessment on a mission against the West, then there is no question of whether he will use military means.
“If he gets the opportunity, he will use them.”
He warned Europe’s liberal democratic order is under threat and admitted fears over how leaders would react if Russia stormed Nato territory.
He said: “People will immediately say ‘Er, we don’t need to fight at all. We have to resolve it diplomatically. We can’t resolve it militarily’.
“I don’t know what discussions, what currents might be unleashed here in Germany. I do have a certain concern about that.”
He added: “If Nato territory is occupied by Russian soldiers, then Nato has to say: ‘How do we chuck them out so that the territory is restored to Nato, not just de jure but de facto?’
“The world is coming apart at the seams.
“It’s turbulent. It’s rough. It’s lawless, it’s in a state of disorder… we urgently need to work on shoring up our foundations.”
Stahl warned the four pillars of German security – the EU, Nato, economic strength and social cohesion – are under severe strain as Russian aggression rattles the continent.
The UK’s Chief of Defence Staff has already warned that Britain must be prepared to sacrifice its “sons and daughters”.
Germany is hosting Nato’s annual Steadfast Dart exercise, in which troops carry out military exercises and coordinate soldiers at speed.
This year’s war game focused on how the alliance would react if Russia seized the Suwalki Gap – a 40-mile strip of the Polish-Lithuanian border that is Nato’s sole land bridge to the Baltic states.
Poland, which shot down Russian suicide drones after they entered its airspace in September, is now considering building its own nuclear weapons.
President Karol Nawrocki said he was a “great supporter of Poland joining the nuclear project”, adding that it should underpin national security.
“This path, with respect for all international regulations, is the path we should take.
“We must work towards this goal so that we can begin the work. We are a country right on the border of an armed conflict.
“The aggressive, imperial attitude of Russia towards Poland is well known.”
But Stahl said he was confident that the US would continue to provide a “nuclear umbrella” to its European Nato allies, even if Donald Trump withdraws some of it conventional forces from the continent.
He added that it was “not in the Americans’ interests” for countries like Poland to have a nuclear arsenal and as such there should be no questions about Washington’s guarantees.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would not develop its own nuclear deterrent but could “theoretically” carry British or French warheads.
Stahl said: “It’s scarcely conceivable, how the Poles are suddenly discussing getting their own nuclear deterrent.
“That’s not in the Americans’ interests.”
His warning comes as Russia presses on with its invasion of Ukraine after US-mediated peace talks collapsed in less than two hours.
Both sides said talks were difficult in Geneva, with the main issues over territory concessions yet to be agreed upon, as the fourth anniversary of the war approaches next week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a sombre nightly address after speaking to his team about the talks.
He announced: “As of today, we cannot say that the outcome of the meetings in Geneva is sufficient.
“The military representatives discussed certain issues seriously and substantively.
“However, sensitive political matters, issues of possible compromises, and the necessary meeting of leaders have not yet been sufficiently worked through.
“We are counting on the next meeting.”
Russia simply called the meeting “difficult but business-like”.
In recent days, Trump indicated it was up to Ukraine and Zelensky to ensure the talks were successful.
“Ukraine better come to the table fast, that’s all I’m telling you,” the US president said on Monday.
Land is the key sticking point in the talks, particularly in the eastern Donbas region.
Russia has demanded control of the whole territory – which it currently holds around 88 per cent of.
Zelensky said his people would “never forgive” him or the US if a deal involved signing away sovereign territory away.
