Russia is building up "aggressive" military forces and the British army would struggle to match Moscow's capabilities, according to UK army chief Nick Carter. The general has called for more defense spending.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/PA/S. Parsons
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The British army is facing threats on "Europe's doorstep" and the UK needs to step up defense in order to "keep up with our adversaries," UK Chief of the General Staff Nick Carter said in a speech Monday at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London.
"The threats we face are not thousands of miles away but are now on Europe's doorstep — we have seen how cyber warfare can be both waged on the battlefield and to disrupt normal people's lives - we in the UK are not immune from that," Carter said.
According to the British army chief, Russia is building increasingly aggressive and expeditionary forces, which the British military would struggle to match. He also warned of Russia's long-range missile technology, which he claimed Moscow has demonstrated in Syria.
Russia's Zapad-2017 war games explained
Russia insists it will stick to international rules in its 2017 military drills with Belarus, but NATO and many western European nations remain on edge. DW looks at the games and why they could be a cause for concern.
Image: Reuters/V. Fedosenko
What is Zapad?
Zapad, which means "west" in Russian, is a joint military drill conducted by the Russian and Belarussian armies along Russia's northwestern border with Europe, which is also NATO territory. The 2017 exercise, which takes place from September 14 to 20, is one of Russia's four annually rotating regional training operations that tests military strategy and troop preparedness by simulating war.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A.Druginyn
What has Zapad looked like in the past?
The Zapad games originated in the Soviet Union and the last exercises took place in 2009 and 2013. In the aftermath of those drills, NATO accused Russia of secretly using them to prepare tactics for its subsequent military invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Crimea and east Ukraine in 2014. NATO also accused Russia of ending both years' drills with hypothetical nuclear strikes on European nations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A.Druginyn
What will Zapad look like this year?
According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) 2011 Vienna Document, a nation must allow other states to observe its military drill if more than 13,000 troops are involved. Russia has said only 12,700 troops will take part. However, western security analysts have pegged the number as high as 100,000.
Russia denies alterior motives
Russia has denied NATO's allegations that Zapad-2017 will mobilize troops in violation of international agreements; it insists it is being fully transparent in its preparations and operations. Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin (above) told DW that Zapad-2017 "is absolutely peaceful, and absolutely defensive in nature." He also denied that the practice maneuver was directed at NATO.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/K. Kudryavtsev
'NATO remains calm and vigilant'
While NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has welcomed Russia's troop disclosure, he also has said that the Western military alliance with roots in the Cold War has "every reason to believe it may be substantially more troops participating than the official reported numbers" based on previous drills. "NATO remains calm and vigilant," he said in early September while in Estonia (above).
Image: Reuters/I. Kalnins
Germany fears 'over 100,000' troops
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen also claimed Russia will deploy "over 100,000" troops in the Zapad-2017 games. In January, Germany sent around 450 troops to Lithuania as part of a NATO mission. Lithuania, a former Soviet republic, is also uneasy about the Russian war games. Above (right), von der Leyen inspects the deployed German troops with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Malukas
Protests in Belarus
Politicians are not the only ones voicing concern over Zapad-2017. One week ahead of the maneuvers' start, around 200 Belarusians hit the streets of the capital, Minsk, to protest the military drills. Some 7,200 Belarusian troops will participate, Russia has said, and military exercises will be concentrated in the nation with close ties to Russia. A protest banner reads "For peaceful Belarus."
Image: Reuters/V. Fedosenko
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Military calls for more money
"The time to address these threats is now — we cannot afford to sit back," Carter said, joining a growing chorus of defense officials calling for more military spending.
"Our ability to preempt or respond to threats will be eroded if we don't keep up with our adversaries."
Carter's rare speech comes as Britain's new Defense Minister Gavin Williamson has reportedly called for more military spending, and is expected to put more pressure on Finance Minister Philip Hammond to accommodate those demands.
Several high-ranking officers, including retired defense chiefs, have urged a military build-up amid reports of UK army financial struggles. In a RUSI speech last month, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach warned that Russian submarines could cut internet cables on the ocean floor and do "catastrophic" damage to the Western economy.
