Sergey Shoigu made the statement in Moscow on Wednesday, the ISW reported in its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine.
The Washington-based think tank reported that "Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu presided over a Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) Collegium in Moscow on December 21 and made significant statements pertaining to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the strategic direction of the Russian military.”
Kremlin says NATO enlargement poses military threat to Russia
The US experts assessed that the Kremlin "intensified its information operation accusing NATO expansion of presenting a military threat to Russia.”
They quoted Shoigu as stating that “NATO’s military expansion near Russian borders, including Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership aspirations, necessitates an ‘appropriate’ Russian response to establish a Russian force group in northwestern Russia.”
Shoigu’s latest statement contrasts with Moscow’s stance in the spring when "senior Kremlin officials said that the accession of the Nordic states to NATO would not threaten Russia,” the ISW reported.
The US experts noted that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in April that “Finland and Sweden joining NATO would not present an existential threat to Russia.”
A month later, this approach was underlined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said that “Finland and Sweden joining NATO would not make ‘much difference,’” according to the US think tank.
Shoigu on Wednesday publicly presented “a series of proposed Russian defense policy changes to significantly increase the size of the Russian military,” the ISW reported.
Shoigu proposed that Russia "reestablish the Moscow and Leningrad military districts, form a new army corps, and form 17 new maneuver divisions,” the US experts said.
Moreover, Shoigu suggested that Russia should “form a new army corps in Karelia, two new airborne assault divisions, three new motorized rifle divisions in occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts, and expand seven existing brigades of the Northern Fleet and Western, Central, and Eastern Military districts into seven new motorized rifle divisions while expanding five existing naval infantry brigades into five naval infantry divisions,” according to the ISW.
In addition, Shoigu proposed that Russia “form five artillery divisions to support military districts,” as well as increase the strength of its armed forces to 1.5 million servicemen, including 695,000 contract servicemen, “gradually increasing the age of conscription for military service from 18 to 21 years and raising the age limit for conscripts from 27 to 30 years,” the US think tank also reported.
The ISW noted that Shoigu “did not specify a timeline for these measures.”
It predicted that the Kremlin "is very unlikely to form such a large conventional force in a timeline that is relevant for Russia’s war in Ukraine,” as “forming divisions is costly and takes time.”
Overall, Putin and Shoigu demonstrated at Wednesday’s meeting that “Russia is not interested in reducing its war efforts or its war aims, despite the growing toll on Russian society,” the US experts assessed.
Zelensky visits Washington
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the United States on Wednesday.
Zelensky met with Joe Biden at the White House and received a standing ovation from the US Congress after telling US lawmakers that America’s assistance to his country was “not charity” but “an investment.”
Zelensky's trip to Washington marked the first time he left Ukraine on a foreign visit after Russia’s invasion began in February, according to news outlets.
Biden pledged to “keep supporting the war effort,” especially Ukraine’s anti-missile and drone potential, which is set to receive a boost as Washington promised to provide a battery of the Patriot air defence system, officials said.
The US Department of Defense on Wednesday announced a further USD 1.85 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
‘Poland was right about Russia’: PM
Meanwhile, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country had long warned Europe about Russia’s “sick colonial ambitions,” and how they posed “a great danger for the countries of eastern Europe and for the whole European Union.”
Speaking in an interview with Italy’s La Stampa newspaper, published on Thursday, Morawiecki added: “We must do everything to help Ukraine because if Kyiv falls, it will pave the way for a conquest of Europe by Russia.”
Thursday is day 302 of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: understandingwar.org, The Economist, PAP, i.pl