Putin has 14 days to sign the bill into law.
This year, various European intelligence agencies have labeled Russia as a direct threat to the West and to NATO.
EU defense officials and lawmakers fear that the Kremlin could view the next year or two as the ideal time to test the West’s commitment to the military alliance. That window will remain as long as Donald Trump is in the White House and Europe has yet to reinforce its military capacity, according to three EU politicians with direct knowledge of the discussions, interviewed by POLITICO earlier this month.
Moscow has partly justified its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the need to protect Russian-speaking Ukrainians, whom it considers compatriots. The Kremlin claimed Kyiv had been abusing their rights for years, and is still demanding the reinstatement of the Russian language and the Russian church at the state level in Ukraine as a part of any peace agreement.
Last month Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the Baltic countries might become Moscow’s next target if Ukraine doesn’t get enough support — a warning later dismissed by Estonia.
