A Western security official told the Daily Express that Russia is effectively already at war with the West and urged NATO to send troops to Ukraine immediately.
The Donald Trump administration has started peace talks with Russia, holding a first session in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Prior to the talks in Saudi Arabia, various Trump officials said it was unrealistic for Ukraine to return to its pre-war borders and poured cold water on Kyiv’s aspirations to join NATO.
Western leaders, who were barred from the talks, fear the US is caving in to Russian demands, and is in danger of handing victory on a plate to Vladimir Putin.
Some have expressed fears that an unjust peace will inevitably lead to another Russian land grab in Europe and to more war.
However, a security expert told the Daily Express that European politicians and the public need to understand that Russia is already at war with the West.
He said: “Well, I think it’s on already,” when asked about the possibility of a wider European war with Russia.
“If people are already cutting our cables, killing our planes, trying to blow up our railway lines – is that not war already?
“You’ve got to get balls and understand we’re at war and Putin is not going to stop.”
Russia has set up a clandestine unit down as the Department of Special Tasks to carry out sabotage attacks and assassinations in the West, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Western intelligence officials believe the newly identified department has orchestrated multiple recent attacks on the West.
These include an attempt on the life of a German arms manufacturer’s CEO and a plot to place incendiary devices on planes used by shipping giant DHL.
The security expert urged NATO to immediately send troops to defend Ukraine’s borders with Belarus and the west bank of the Dnieper river, as well as protecting the skies.
He said: “We need deterrence now, not fighting later and not worrying about s**t later – but deterrence now.
“The biggest thing we’ve got is aircraft, so we could start by policing the skies west of the Dnieper river – shoot down all their drones and missiles.
“We can take the Belarusian border up to Kyiv and we can completely isolate the western side of Ukraine.”
