US ally on Putin’s doorstep braces for war as Russia tensions take ominous turn

Poland Braces for Potential Conflict as NATO Allies Sound Alarm Over Russian Aggression

WARSAW — Poland's deputy defense minister has issued a stark warning that his country is actively preparing for the possibility of war, even as officials in Warsaw and across NATO's eastern flank express deepening concerns about Moscow's intentions.

"We are preparing for war, hoping that it never happens," Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk told Super Express in an interview published August 17.

The Polish Embassy in Washington clarified that Warsaw's accelerated defense preparations, including military spending approaching 5% of gross domestic product, are designed to deter potential aggression rather than signal that conflict is inevitable. The embassy invoked the Latin principle Si vis pacem, para bellum — "If you want peace, prepare for war" — arguing that strengthening deterrence represents the only sound strategy given Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and what Poland views as Moscow's imperial ambitions.

A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, backed Tomczyk's assessment and described a pattern of escalating Russian pressure on multiple fronts. The diplomat pointed to what they characterized as Russian disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, sabotage efforts and repeated tests of Poland's air defenses, as well as increasingly frequent nuclear rhetoric from Russian officials and state media.

"We are hurrying to be prepared for war since Russia is giving us and our neighbors constant signals that they want us back as their vassals, their colonial backyard," the diplomat said. "Altogether, it shows quite clearly that if Russia or Belarus saw any chance to attack Poland to destroy an obstacle to restoring the Soviet or Tsarist Russian empire in Eastern Europe, they would do it without hesitation."

The diplomat stressed that the concern was not rooted in hostility toward ordinary Russians, expressing hope for future cultural exchange and tourism between the countries. "We want to have Russia as a good neighbor, business partner. We would like to host their tourists," the diplomat said. "But they — at least the imperialists who are the foundation of the Putin administration — would like to turn Poland, the Baltics and, of course, Ukraine back into their colonial part of Europe."

Retired Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who commanded U.S. European Command and served as NATO's supreme allied commander Europe from 2013 to 2016, told Maine News Now that Poland's warning reflects concerns shared by many former military leaders.

"It's a problem that many of us are worried about," Breedlove said. "They're trying to test the alliance: Is Italy going to go to war? Is Spain going to go to war? There are several places where Russia could try to snatch something. Their goal is to divide and ultimately break up the alliance."

Breedlove warned that Moscow could attempt a provocation calibrated to create uncertainty over whether NATO should respond collectively. "It is likely that Russia will try to initiate a provocation that is just enough to raise the question of a NATO response," he said, arguing that the objective would be to expose divisions among allies.

The general described the escalating rhetoric as part of a broader Russian information campaign aimed at coercing Western governments. "Without question, Russia is fighting an information war and trying to achieve what practitioners call 'reflexive control' to try to force NATO capitulation," Breedlove said.

Breedlove noted that NATO is capable of confronting Russia in a conventional war but expressed concern about a different vulnerability. "What NATO is not ready for — and what the U.S. is not ready for — is the new kind of drone warfare that Russia is waging against Ukraine," he said. "Our air defense capabilities in the West are not even close to what is needed for the level of drone warfare that Russia is waging against Ukraine."

The warnings follow similar statements from other eastern-flank governments. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said intelligence indicated the possibility of limited Russian attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic states or Poland, according to a July 15 report by the Associated Press. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw was preparing "very intensively for various scenarios." Russia rejected those allegations.

The eastern flank warnings emerged as tensions between Moscow and London escalated. Russia's embassy in Britain threatened unspecified consequences after The Times reported that British-made drones had been used by Ukraine for long-range strikes inside Russia. "London's actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer," the embassy stated.

Britain's Ministry of Defense responded that the country stood "shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said Moscow had the right to regard direct British involvement in strikes on Russian territory as participation in the war.

State television host Vladimir Solovyov went further, calling for Russia to deploy its Poseidon weapon against Britain. Poseidon is a nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable underwater drone that Russia claimed to have successfully tested in October 2025. "Give the British three days to learn to breathe underwater, then hit them with Poseidon," Solovyov said, according to The Times.

Breedlove argued that Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy, logistics and defense-industrial targets are creating growing pressure on the Kremlin, and suggested that President Vladimir Putin may increasingly seek to portray NATO itself as the external enemy to rally domestic support.