 Senior Russian officer warned conflict in Ukraine could turn into a large-scale war in Europe. A senior Russian military officer has warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe and said the probability of Moscow's forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing significantly, according to Reuters. Colonel General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Russian Army's Military Academy of the General Staff, made the comments in an article for Military Thought, a Defense Ministry publication the state RIA News Agency reported. The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine from the expansion of participants in proxy forces used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe cannot be ruled out. Rearsighted him as saying, the main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies who are conducting a new type of hybrid war in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity. He was quoted as saying, the likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing. Reuters recalls that the war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and President Vladimir Putin has warned that the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine. Putin has cast his decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 as a special military operation designed to secure Russia's own security against an increasingly hostile US-backed Ukrainian leadership. Kiev says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity. Zarodnitsky's comments come at a time when the West is scrambling to help Ukraine with more arms and financing after Kiev's failed counter-offensive last summer and after Russian forces regained the initiative on the battlefield. Zarodnitsky advocated a number of changes in the way Russia organises its military and security, Rea added, including placing greater emphasis on replying on what he called friendly countries to ensure Russia's own security and consolidating the whole of Russian society around its defence needs. Ukraine's massive ammo deficit Greatest Danger to NATO Security Armageddon is considered inevitable. Two weeks of NATO drama have somewhat overshadowed Ukraine's deteriorating battlefield position as Western politicians and media focus on the ever-present danger of direct conflict between Moscow and its transatlantic rivals according to Newsweek. Kiev's forces are struggling to hold the long front line in the south and east of the country against continued and at times frenzied assaults. Units are increasingly short of manpower and are still being denied the Western ammunition and advanced weapons Kiev says it vitally needs. Recent interventions and a significant intelligence leak from Western capitals though have focused on the prospect of NATO troops operating within Ukraine and prompted fresh threats of nuclear war from Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin allies. French President Emmanuel Macron first raised the proposal of deploying NATO troops to Ukraine in training and advisory roles. In his denouncement of the plan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed that French and British troops are already thought to be in country. This conclusion was then echoed in a recording intercepted and leaked by Russia of senior German military officials discussing Western support to Ukraine. The greatest acute danger is still from the front lines in Ukraine. One European diplomatic official who spoke to Newsweek on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly said when asked about the prospects of Russian escalation. The ammunition deficit is massive and Russian pressure intense they added. The West is paralyzed by fear. So far all the red lines we've crossed have not brought the Armageddon we're so afraid of. The second European diplomatic official who also requested anonymity to speak candidly suggested to Newsweek that Moscow primarily wants to exploit alliance concerns to further deter Western aid to Kiev. I doubt you can change Russia's calculus just by sending trainers to Ukraine, they said. I'm sure the Russians are well aware of who's doing what in Ukraine the diplomatic official added. Ukraine needs ammo and air defense. That's where the immediate focus should be. Russia is deploying its army to the borders of Europe. NATO's military exercises have angered Moscow. Russia has strengthened its military forces in the north and west of the country to counter what Moscow perceives as a buildup of NATO forces near Russia. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Finland has joined NATO and Sweden is on the point of doing so. NATO is this week conducting a military exercise called Nordic Response 2024, which it says will involve more than 20,000 soldiers in Norway, Finland and Sweden and will focus on collective defense. Against the background of a buildup of NATO's military potential near the Russian borders, the expansion of the alliance through the accession of Finland and in the future Sweden, we have taken steps to strengthen the groupings of troops in the northwestern and western strategic directions. Shoigu told top generals without providing details, we need to be able to fight back and stop anyone who tries to challenge our borders values and democracy. So said Brigadier Tron Strand of the Royal Norwegian Air Force as a major military exercise involving 20,000 soldiers, 50 naval vessels and more than 100 aircraft from 15 different countries including the UK, new NATO member Finland and soon to be member Sweden got underway in Scandinavia. Exercises such as Nordic Response 2024 due to run until mid-March are vital in helping to ensure that the sum of NATO's part proves to be effective when required to operate as a whole. European countries tend to want to each have the full spread of armed forces, which means there is much duplication of capabilities, not to mention bureaucracy, which is a problem for the alliance.