Is Europe ready for war with Russia after Putin's threat?

Vladimir Putin issued Europe with a chilling threat on Tuesday, warning that Russia was not only “ready” for war on the continent but could prosecute it with such force that there would be “nobody left to negotiate peace with” when he was finished.

- JAMES C. REYNOLDS

Amid desperate talks to end the war in Ukraine, the Russian president said that he was not looking for another conflict – but that he would not hesitate to strike if provoked by Kyiv's European backers.

Putin's army has been acting “surgically” in Ukraine, he claimed. It would not exercise the same restraint in the case of a confrontation with Nato, he said.

Despite all the pomp of parades and drills on Europe's eastern frontier, the Russian army has been worn down by the long war in Ukraine. It remains, however, the largest in Europe – and sharp to the demands of modern warfare. The Independent looks at whether Europe currently has the military and economic force to succeed on the battlefield against Russia.

How do the armies compare?

The Russian army has swollen to a mammoth 1.32 million active personnel over the course of the war, despite sustaining heavy losses on the battlefield. That figure eclipses any standing army on the continent.