It appears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could potentially test the resolve of NATO by launching a limited assault on an allied country within the next few years. First reported by The Wall Street Journal, new U.S. intelligence reports detail various scenarios of this possible attack, which range from cyberattacks to small-scale land incursions.
Per CNN, these assessments suggest that if Putin finds himself unable to secure a face-saving exit from the war in Ukraine, he might turn his attention toward challenging the unity of the alliance. The strategic goal here would be to fracture NATO, specifically by targeting countries like Poland or those in the Baltics. While experts have long considered a direct land incursion highly unlikely because it would trigger Article 5, the calculus is shifting.
