An expert fears Putin will trigger World War Three (stock) (Image: Getty Images)
A renowned historian has claimed the fall of one European country would trigger World War Three. Heightened global tensions, governments issuing stockpiling advice and the continuing Russia-Ukraine war have sparked fears over another world war.
According to Dr Sarah Paine, a historian, geopolitical strategist, and professor, the world should be very worried about what Russian dictator Vladimir Putin does next. Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, she says the world will enter World War Three “if we continue in the current direction of travel”.
US President Donald Trump shows no signs of backing down in his ill-fated Iran conflict. And the Russia-Ukraine war is still rumbling on as it approaches five years of fighting.
The world is in a precarious position with Trump seemingly starting to side with Putin as Trump paused massive tariffs on Russian goods, days after launching a scathing attack on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Donald Trump seems to be cosying up to Putin (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Steven Bartlett, who presents Diary of a CEO, asked whether Putin invading Poland would trigger World War Three. Dr Paine agreed that it would, before offering an “obscene” prognosis about what this might look like.
She said: “I have no idea (what World War Three would look like). But you can get on a nice computer program, pick your mega tonnage of a nuclear weapon and you can put it over a city of your choice and see how many people die. It’s obscene.
“And that’s the problem with having these dark personalities running countries like Putin. He doesn’t care how many people he kills.”
Earlier this year, the US suggested that Putin is planning to invade Poland to test NATO’s resolve. They said soldiers could potentially cross the border from Belarus or Russian territory Kaliningrad.
Any invasion of Poland would trigger NATO’s Article 5, which states that an armed attack against one member state is considered an attack against all its members.
The Russia-Ukraine war shows no signs of reaching a conclusion (Image: Russian Defence Ministry/AFP via Getty Images)
Dr Paine pointed to Russian drones being shot down over another NATO country, Romania, as evidence of how far Putin will push his aggression.
She said: “When he is threatening NATO countries, he has been violating airspace in the last few days, sending drones into the territorial waters of Romania, and they were shot down.
“At some point, you’re into Article 5 territory. Europeans don’t want to do it because it will be an ever-loving mess.
“Article 5 being that you all go to war together. While the generation who remembered World War Two while they lived, they were really careful not to trigger that. And that’s not true of who we’ve got now.”
It comes after Gene Sticco, a national security specialist and former Air Force nuclear protection expert, highlighted three UK towns and cities Brits should avoid if World War Three breaks out.
He said: “Certainly anywhere near the US and NATO facilities. Otherwise, the key military centres – Telford, Plymouth, South Yorkshire, and the South East and South West of England.”
When asked to identify the precise city or town in Britain he believed an adversary would most probably target if launching an attack, he answered: “Naval centres – this is the UK’s strength and lifeline. Strike at Plymouth and Barrow-in-Furness.”
