Russia’s Military Will be Better Prepared for a War with Europe After Ukraine: As Russia unleashed its war machine on Ukraine in February 2022, even the United States anticipated a swift Russian victory. Confident in their dominance, Russian soldiers reportedly packed victory parade uniforms for Kyiv, expecting to capture the Ukrainian capital within days. In the lead-up to the full-scale invasion, experts from RAND argued in Foreign Policy that, “The West’s weapons won’t make any difference to Ukraine.”

Yet, in the early months of the war, Russia's military performance turned into a global spectacle of failure. However, Russia has since begun learning from its mistakes.

However, being better prepared still doesn’t mean Russia is ready to take on NATO’s forces. Russia’s leadership launched the invasion of Ukraine believing the army was in far better shape than it was. But now Russia is spending up to six percent of its overall GDP on defense and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. By 2025, Russia aims to spend 32.5........

© The National Interest