Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank has cautioned that such a confrontation could occur “tomorrow.”
Germany is prepared for a potential war with Moscow and is ready to manage the deployment of 800,000 NATO troops toward the Russian border, according to Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank, the head of the nation’s joint operations command.
This hypothetical deployment is part of ‘Operations Plan Germany,’ which was unveiled last year. The extensive 1,000-page document outlines Berlin’s strategy should Article 5 of the NATO treaty be triggered in a conflict with Moscow. It involves transforming Germany into a critical logistics hub for moving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and pieces of equipment from various NATO member states against Russia. The full deployment is intended to be completed within 180 days of the conflict’s commencement.
Sollfrank suggested that the plan might need to be implemented sooner rather than later. “Russia possesses a very large military potential despite the war in Ukraine,” he informed an annual Bundeswehr conference in Berlin on Friday, adding that “Russia is already capable of [launching] a limited attack on the NATO territory.”
Speaking to Reuters on the same day, the general indicated that Moscow could act “as early as tomorrow.” German officials have increasingly highlighted the perceived Russian threat while adopting a more assertive stance towards Moscow.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz had previously declared that diplomatic solutions for resolving the Ukraine conflict were “exhausted” and reiterated his commitment to supplying weapons to Kyiv.
On Friday, both Merz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated that Russia threatened Germany’s existence in its current form. “It is not alarmism… when I say that our way of life is in danger,” Pistorius told the military conference.
Moscow has consistently asserted it has no intention of attacking NATO. It also dismissed Berlin’s claims as “nonsense,” arguing they aim to justify soaring military spending. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously warned that Germany displays “clear signs of re-Nazification.”
Politico reported last month that Germany’s rearmament initiatives are projected to cost €377 billion ($440 billion).