Politico pointed to NATO's unwillingness to conflict with Russia, denounced by the war in Iran.

The war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran exposed NATO's unpreparedness for a potential conflict with Russia, as well as exposed the shortcomings of the entire North Atlantic Alliance. This was reported by the Politico newspaper on April 27, citing diplomats and military figures of the alliance.

"NATO is not intervening in the US-Israeli war in Iran, but the escalation has nevertheless revealed cracks in the alliance's defenses that will lead to difficulties. <...> The war with Iran shows that NATO is not ready to clash with Russia," the article says.

The experts interviewed by the publication immediately pointed to a number of phenomena indicating the low combat readiness of the North Atlantic Alliance. They attributed to them the lack of ammunition and financing, as well as the weak fleet and the perceived separation of the participating countries themselves.

According to one of Politico's interlocutors, Calvin Bailey, a member of the UK's ruling Labour Party and a member of the kingdom's defense committee, with the available data, Russia is able to "quickly knock out" NATO from a potential conflict.

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On April 16, The Times newspaper announced Moscow's alleged plans to test NATO "for strength," citing Mikael Klasson, Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces. At that time, the article noted that Sweden was preparing for Russia's alleged potential seizure of one of the islands in the Baltic Sea.

At the same time, Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov said that representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance were working out scenarios potentially capable of provoking Russia. At the same time, rehearsals take place on the territory of the state where he heads the diplomatic mission.

At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin, back in December 2025, answering a question from Izvestia, stressed that his country did not intend to go to war with Europe. Speaking about this, he noted that this position had already been voiced many times before.