However, when asked whether Russia could launch an attack within a few months, Zelenskyy replied that he does not “believe [Putin] is ready.”
The Ukrainian president also criticized NATO members’ plans to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, calling them “very slow.”
“We believe that starting from 2030, Putin may have significantly greater capabilities," Zelenskyy said.
"Right now, Ukraine is holding him back — he doesn’t have time to train his army.”
He added that Putin needs a pause, the lifting of sanctions, and a newly trained army.
“And ten years is a very long time," he warned.
"Putin will already have a new army ready by then.”
Earlier, former NATO Military Committee Chair Rob Bauer suggested that the alliance might not respond to a “small-scale attack” by Russia on Estonia. According to him, if the attack were limited in scope and did not pose a direct threat to the territorial integrity of the member country, initial consultations will take place among alliance members to determine whether a military response is necessary.
On June 11, Bruno Kahl, head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), said that intelligence had “concrete evidence” that Russia is planning an attack on NATO territory to test the effectiveness of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which concerns collective defense.
According to Kahl, the Kremlin no longer believes NATO will uphold its mutual defense commitments and may seek to challenge them.
Back in December 2024, Finnish outlet Iltalehti reported that NATO believed Russia had rehearsed an attack on Finland, the Baltic states (particularly Estonia), and Norway, and had not abandoned its plans to potentially carry it out.