According to several US intelligence sources close to Polish President Karol Nawrocki, Russia may be planning to launch an attack against Poland in the coming months. The sources also suggest that crucial Polish infrastructure could be targeted by Russian missiles and drones and that Russian troops could cross into Polish territory either from Russia's Kaliningrad exclave or from Belarus.
Some analysts believe that such an attack would be intended as a provocation aimed at escalating tensions further and forcing Western allies to halt aid to Ukraine. According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the attack would also be conducted with the purpose of testing NATO’s resolve. Tusk also mentioned there were similar concerns in the Baltic states regarding a possible Russian attack within the next few months.
Indeed, since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014 and launched military aggression in eastern Ukraine the same year, followed by a full-scale invasion in 2022 that is ongoing, the relationship between NATO and Russia has been in deep crisis. In fact, the once cordial partnership between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Russian Federation is at its lowest since the dark days of the Cold War. NATO leaders believe Russia poses a direct threat to the alliance, but their collective condemnation is falling on deaf ears in Moscow.
So, how has a previously constructive relationship between NATO and Russia turned so fractious? Click through this gallery and find out more about why Russia fell out with NATO.