Stark warning for Europe as expert says Russia’s war against Ukraine could spread across continent
Europe faces the prospect of war spreading across the continent unless its leaders learn and act on the lessons of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a leading academic has warned
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The stark assessment comes as Nato defence chiefs prepare to meet virtually today, with talks focused on possible security guarantees for Kyiv that could form part of a peace settlement.
Dr Simon Bennett, of the University of Leicester, said the West’s refusal to deploy troops in Ukraine has emboldened Vladimir Putin and raised the chances of fighting spreading across the continent.
“The West’s refusal to deploy troops to Ukraine has been read by Putin as a sign of weakness and has made a wider European war more likely,” Dr Bennett said.
“Europe will only survive if it stops talking about ‘security guarantees’ – which, in the context of Putin’s duplicitous and colonialist regime, are worthless – and rearms at pace.”
Read more: From the frontline: Inside Ukraine’s drone wall holding back Russia’s 'meatgrinder' onslaught
The warning comes as Nato defence chiefs are due to hold a virtual meeting today to discuss possible future security guarantees for Kyiv that could form part of a peace settlement.
Italian admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of Nato’s Military Committee, said 32 defence chiefs from across the alliance would join the video conference. US general Alexus Grynkewich, Nato’s supreme allied commander in Europe, is among those taking part.
The talks are taking place against a backdrop of new diplomatic efforts. President Donald Trump met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior European figures in Washington on Monday.
Neither meeting delivered concrete progress, with Ukraine’s allies still pressing for guarantees that would prevent Russia from launching another invasion.
Zelenskyy renewed calls for Western-backed assurances after overnight missile and drone strikes on six Ukrainian regions injured at least 15 people. “We need strong security guarantees to ensure a truly secure and lasting peace,” he said.
Kyiv’s European allies are considering a coalition-backed force to underpin any future peace agreement, with more than 30 countries – including Japan and Australia – pledging support.
But Mr Trump has ruled out sending US troops, leaving questions over what role Washington would play.
Moscow, meanwhile, has dismissed the entire effort. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said security talks without Russia would “not work”, insisting Moscow would “ensure its legitimate interests firmly and harshly”.
Dr Bennett, whose new book The Russia-Ukraine War – Security Lessons: An Analysis Informed by Sociological Approaches to Risk Management is published this week, said Europe needed to face up to the long-term threat.
“Russia-Ukraine has shown that the Cold War never ended,” he said. “Putin is resolved to recreate the Soviet empire." Adding: "Weapons and the will to use them are the only effective security guarantees.”
He also pointed to lessons from the battlefield, highlighting Ukraine’s drone manufacturing sector, the revival of irregular warfare tactics, and the need to protect infrastructure through layered air defences, as LBC has covered extensively before.
“The war has shown that technophilia – an obsession with complex, high-technology weapons systems – is a dysfunction,” he added. “Small, highly mobile and relatively autonomous fighting units have delivered serial successes. Europe ignores that reality at its peril.”
Dr Bennett’s intervention comes as Ukraine prepares to mark 34 years since its independence from Moscow’s rule, on Sunday 24 August.