Zelenskyy warns Russia is 'plotting big war' in Europe by 2030
Officials from the UK and across NATO have said members must prepare for a "war scenario"
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing to launch a "big war" on Europe within the next five years, urging Western allies to ramp up pressure on Vladimir Putin’s regime before it’s too late.
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His stark warning comes amid growing concern among European defence chiefs that Moscow could target other nations if the campaign in Ukraine stabilises.
The Ukrainian president said: “Given the situation on the battlefield, we don’t see Russia wanting to stop. The problem is that when we look at the Russian military industry, we see that they are increasing their production. In our assessment, they want to continue this war.”
“We think that if we push hard, the Russians will need a pause. But we have to recognize that they want a big war, they are preparing to be able to start such a big war in 2029 or 2030 – in this period – on the European continent,” he added.
Officials from the UK and across NATO have said members must prepare for a “war scenario” in the years ahead.
Barely an hour after Mr Zelensky’s statement on Telegram, it was confirmed that Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, would travel to London to meet his British counterpart for urgent talks.
The warning comes as fighting intensifies in Ukraine’s east, particularly around Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, where nearly half of all frontline clashes have taken place in the past 24 hours.
Over the last month, Russia has claimed to have seized multiple settlements across Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv.
Mr Zelensky has previously cautioned that Moldova and the Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — could be Putin’s next targets.
Moldova, under pro-Western President Maia Sandu, has sought closer ties with the EU but remains vulnerable due to the Russian-backed enclave of Transnistria.
Moldovan MP Radu Marian told Metro: “It was clear for us from the beginning that Russia has interest in taking over Moldova, by any means. If soldiers had reached and occupied the city of Odesa, our fate would have been sealed.”
A study by Harvard’s Kennedy School found that 2030 is the year most frequently cited by NATO and European officials as the point when Russia could be ready to launch a new major offensive.
Others believe Moscow could act sooner, as early as 2027 or 2028, depending on the outcome of the current war in Ukraine.