Russia vs. Nato: who would win?

Military capability of Western alliance remains 'formidable' despite questions around untested 'mutual assistance' agreement as Trump pivots away from Europe

Illustration of NATO and Russian soldiers, vehicles and armaments
Nato member states have plied Kyiv with weapons and punished Russia with the most severe economic sanctions ever imposed on a major economy
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

Germany's military intelligence believes that Russia could launch a full-scale assault on Nato by the end of the decade. An assessment jointly produced by the Federal Intelligence Service and the army, and seen by several German media outlets, said that Russia "increasingly views the West as a 'systemic enemy' and is rebuilding its military capacity with long-term confrontation in mind", said UK Defence Journal.

German officials say the Russian navy and air force remain at high readiness, with Russian land forces ready to be redeployed in the Baltic once the war in Ukraine ends.

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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.