German Army Chief of Staff Carsten Breuer believes the Bundeswehr (army), which is being modernized after Russia went to war in Ukraine, needs to be “ready for war” within five years, according to an interview published in Sunday’s edition. conservative newspaper Die Welt, reports AFP Agerpres.

“Based on various analyses, and when I see the potential threat posed by Russia, for us it means five to eight years of preparation,” General Carsten Breuer said.

“This does not mean that there will be a war then. But it is possible. Because I am a military man, I say: in five years we must be ready for war,” he insisted.

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, “we are facing the possibility of a war imposed from the outside,” warned a German military official.

Combat fitness means “much more” than defense capability, the senior officer continued. “In addition to personal and material availability, it is also about a necessary change in mentality to which we must submit,” he explained.

“There must be a change in mentality both in society and, first of all, in the Bundeswehr,” the German general estimated.

Regarding the Atlantic alliance, Carsten Breuer also admitted that his country will be able to provide certain promised capabilities later than planned, without specifying their nature for security reasons.

As part of the NATO’s new deterrence and defense strategy, Germany wants to maintain 35,000 soldiers in the future. This includes one army division fully equipped and ready for intervention from 2025 and another from 2027.

Read also:

“Vladimir Putin may one day even attack a NATO country,” warns German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius