WW3 warning: Putin 'tempted to use or lose' his military arsenal against West
A WORLD WAR 3 warning was issued after a defence expert told Express.co.uk that Vladimir Putin will be tempted to "use or lose" Russia's vast military arsenal as it grows bigger.
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It comes as a security official from the country this week claimed Moscow used its navy and air force to expel a British warship, HMS Dragon, from what he described as Russian territorial waters near Russian-annexed Crimea last October. Mr Putin annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 after storming the region with military forces. The move drew sanctions and condemnation from countries in the West.
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A similar but less hostile scene occurred earlier this year after Russia piled its western border with Ukraine with 100,000 soldiers.
Things have since calmed down.
However, Professor Julian Lindley-French, an internationally recognised strategic analyst and advisor in defence, said he feared Russia was reaching a point where it would feel pressured into "losing or using" the vast military capabilities it has amassed over the decades.
The veteran analyst has recently co-authored a book, 'Future War', exploring how the US and Europe might consolidate their military forces in the face of increasing threats from the likes of Russia and China, as well as handling new and cutting edge techniques of conflict.
The Russian Armed Forces is one of the largest military operations in the world, comprising around one million active duty personnel.
It also has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, with its 2020 budget listed at around $61.7 billion (£43bn).
Such is the extent of Russia's forces that Prof Lindley-French told Express.co.uk: "One of the things that concerns me about the Russia armed forces and the Russia build up at the moment is that they've invested a huge amount of resources in building and modernising their armed forces.
"But the thing about modernising armed forces is that there comes a point when they're modern, and there comes a point when they're obsolescent.
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"For an autocracy like Russia the temptation is always to use the force when it's at its peak, and that's that threat that we're moving towards the climax of the Russia military modernisation programme.
"The temptation will be at some point to use it or lose it because the West will respond, and when we respond we will always be more capable of developing modern armed forces."
At the border with Ukraie, despite Mr Putin's announcement he was planning on pulling back, Russian soldiers and military hardware remained stationed well into mid-May.
The pile-up of forces took place against the backdrop of increased fighting in Ukraine's troubled eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
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