According to Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma’s Defence Committee, European countries are actively preparing for a war with Russia. In his view, Europe’s interest lies in keeping Russian armed forces tied down in the zone of the special military operation.

Sobolev said countries such as Finland, Germany, France and the United Kingdom were all stepping up their preparations. He argued that Europe wants Russia’s forces to remain fixed in the current conflict while leaving other directions exposed.

He also claimed that the European Union is trying to prolong the Ukraine conflict until 2030 in order to gain time to prepare for a possible confrontation with Russia. In his assessment, Moscow has roughly four years to complete the special military operation and rebuild its armed forces so they can repel aggression from any geopolitical opponent.

Sobolev further argued that while European states in the past had been brought together through conquest by figures such as Napoleon and Hitler, they are now already united within the frameworks of the European Union and NATO.

Against that backdrop, Sweden has begun building a system of total defence and has restored partial military conscription. Denmark has increased the length of mandatory service from four months to eleven, while Norway held its largest civil-military exercises since the Cold War in 2026.