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Ukraine is not the end of Vladimir Putin's ambition, as an expert believes the Russian President soon intends to set his sights on other nations in Europe as part of his conquest.
Knewz.com has learned that Putin has time and again stated his desire to re-establish a Russian empire—starting with Ukraine.
In order to restore Russia to the "glory days" of the Soviet Union, Putin will have to re-annex the countries it lost during the fall of the U.S.S.R. in 1991.
Going by this logic, the Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, should be next on Putin's invasion "hitlist"—which is exactly what defense and security expert Nicholas Drummond has warned.
According to Drummond, Putin will soon set his sights on the Baltic territories, in addition to Moldova and some parts of Africa, as soon as he is done with Ukraine.
Given the optimism pro-war Kremlin politicians have shown regarding Donald Trump's reinstatement to the White House, it seems Putin is all but sure that a settlement agreement regarding the end of the Ukraine war would be in his favor.
While Trump has long touted his ability to end the conflict in Ukraine "within 24 hours of" taking Office, he has yet to outline the terms he intends to propose to both parties in order to make that happen.
Instead, during the Presidential campaign, Vice President-elect J. D. Vance offered some skeletal details of the settlement the Trump administration would put forward in this regard—with reports pointing out that the settlement echoes the terms Putin proposed in return for calling off the Ukraine invasion.
Vance explained at the time that Trump suggested the current frontline of the war be "frozen," and that Russia be allowed to retain the territory it has already annexed from Ukraine over the course of the conflict.
Furthermore, the settlement outlined by Vance also stipulated that Ukraine would not join NATO, although the embattled nation has been on the precipice of its ascension to the alliance.
It is worth noting in this regard that U.S. intelligence officials claimed earlier in 2024 that Trump is exactly the person Putin wants to see reinstated in the White House.
With Trump finally resuming his seat as the United States Commander-in-Chief, Putin stated that he was ready to begin talks regarding Ukraine, which further shows that the Russian President hopes the talks will go to his advantage.
If the said possibility comes to pass, Russia would have gained significant key territory in Ukraine before ending the war, thus freeing Putin's resources to carry out similar invasions elsewhere.
While defense expert Drummond believes that the Baltic states are on Putin's crosshair, he also pointed out that, being NATO member states, an attack on Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania would "dramatically escalate things."
Drummond said in a recent statement, "Putin is a dangerous guy, a very dangerous guy and he wants Russia to be a superpower again."
"I don't think he will go for the Baltic states, but he could do. There are NATO troops in the Baltics so that would immediately spark an Article 5 event (the NATO clause that considers an attack on one member nation to be an attack on all). This would dramatically escalate things," he added.
The expert further stated that Putin might try to invade Moldova instead, where politicians have "expressed fears in recent years that Russia could try and seize control of Transnistria – a breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova where the government has previously requested annexation by Russia," according to reports.
"Moldova, he might try something there. He may also decide to do something in Africa, seizing territory there or something like that," Drummond said in his statement.
Mihail Popșoi, the Foreign Minister of Moldova, recently said that the nation is not under threat of invasion while Putin is busy carrying on the Ukraine war. He added, however, that Moldova is "safe, although safe could be a strong word given the frontlines are just 200 kilometers [around 124 miles] away."
According to reports, the governments of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are providing combat training to its citizens as threats of a potential invasion by Putin looms over the nations.
On the other hand, it was reported earlier in 2024 that released documents containing Putin's nuclear strike plans listed 32 NATO targets on the Russian President's hitlist—with the United Kingdom mentioned as a top priority.