Overview
- Major Gen. Wolf‑Jürgen Stahl said he sees indicators Vladimir Putin is preparing a war of aggression against NATO and that Germany is already under sustained non‑military attacks.
- In unusually blunt remarks, he described President Trump as an egomaniac and erratic dealmaker but said he still expects the United States to maintain its nuclear umbrella for Europe.
- A Die Welt–broadcast tabletop exercise depicted NATO paralysis after a U.S. refusal to back Lithuania’s Article 5 request as Russia seized the Suwalki Gap.
- Germany is hosting NATO’s Steadfast Dart, moving about 7,300 troops to test rapid large‑scale troop movements through the alliance’s logistics hub.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected a German nuclear arsenal but said German strike jets could theoretically carry British or French warheads, while Stahl warned of weak civil defence and rising AfD influence.