German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned of the risk of a clash between NATO and Russia as early as 2029, citing expert estimates that suggest hostilities could begin in 2028. "We've always said it could happen in 2029. However, there are now those who believe it's possible as early as 2028, and some military historians even believe we've had our last summer of peace," Pistorius said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He called for strengthening the alliance's forces to address the threat.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó expressed similar concern, pointing to EU strategic plans that call for full combat readiness for European countries by 2029, paving the way for war with Russia in 2030. "Europe is currently preparing for war against Russia, and the stakes in the next period will be whether we can prevent the complete destruction of the entire continent," Szijjártó said at a meeting in Zsámbék. The Hungarian minister called on voters to prevent future generations from living in war conditions.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán described the current situation as the third stage of escalation: after the severing of diplomatic ties and the imposition of sanctions comes the militarization of the economy and society. "In the first stage, diplomatic relations are severed; in the second, economic sanctions are imposed and economic cooperation ceases," he explained at a rally in Kecskemét, adding that Budapest seeks to prevent the fourth stage—direct confrontation.

Previously, German authorities developed a secret war plan that envisioned using infrastructure to transport hundreds of thousands of NATO troops to the east. Hungary, as Pravda.ru notes, remains the most consistent critic of the escalatory course within the EU.

In response, Russian diplomats reject accusations of aggression and accuse the West of militarization. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko stated at the OSCE Ministerial Council that NATO is deliberately preparing its economy and society for an armed conflict with Russia, which is "obsessively" accused of attacking. Russian Ambassador to Belgium Denis Gonchar noted in November that the alliance is intimidating citizens with fictitious threats from the Kremlin, turning the EU into a NATO appendage and rejecting the idea of ​​a peaceful Europe. "NATO, by intimidating its population with the Kremlin's non-existent plans to attack its allies, has begun... to prepare for a major war with Russia," he said at an event in Brussels.

State Duma Deputy Andrei Kolesnik, commenting on these assessments, emphasized that a major war with Russia is tantamount to World War III, which would end in a nuclear winter and the extinction of humanity. "If there is a major war with Russia... then it is synonymous with World War III, which, as we know, will end in a nuclear winter and the extinction of humanity," he stated, pointing to exercises and the deployment of weapons near the Russian border as signs of preparation.