Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteMoss
Was that the general feeling before this that Russia could take? Captain and other military experts?
That Russia could defeat all of Europe without nukes?
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Depends on what you mean by defeat all of Europe. During the Cold War, a Soviet conventional victory in Europe would have meant taking Paris. And they probably could have back then. But today, with most of the Warsaw Pact now in NATO, and Russia itself smaller and poorer? Not a chance.
But taking Paris isn’t even in Putin’s wildest dreams. A more relevant question is could Russia take over it’s NATO neighbours and near-neighbours before they were stopped? In the case of the Baltics, almost certainly yes. In the case of Poland, hard to say. Probably not. There’s no scenario where the U.S. doesn’t get involved in a big way if Russian troops are pushing into Poland.