Nato for sure can stand its ground even without the US. But Russia doesn’t need to blitzkrieg and win huge swathes of territory in order to accomplish their goals of destabilizing the EU. Everyone saying “they’re already losing in Ukraine, they wouldn’t dream of opening another front” obviously hasn’t studied Russian history.
I think the biggest deciding factor in whether this happens or not is actually China. Ostensibly, they wouldn’t risk losing a huge market like the EU but afaik things aren’t going well over there either, so if Xi wants to be the strongman Putin is desperately trying to be just in order to hold on to power, I can absolutely see them choosing Russia’s side in a global conflict.
Nato for sure can stand its ground even without the US. But Russia doesn’t need to blitzkrieg and win huge swathes of territory in order to accomplish their goals of destabilizing the EU. Everyone saying “they’re already losing in Ukraine, they wouldn’t dream of opening another front” obviously hasn’t studied Russian history.
I think the biggest deciding factor in whether this happens or not is actually China. Ostensibly, they wouldn’t risk losing a huge market like the EU but afaik things aren’t going well over there either, so if Xi wants to be the strongman Putin is desperately trying to be just in order to hold on to power, I can absolutely see them choosing Russia’s side in a global conflict.