Vladimir Putin will invade a Nato country if he succeeds in Ukraine, it was warned today.
David Petraeus, a respected former US general and CIA chief, also claimed Lithuania would be most at risk.
He said Russia could launch an incursion into that Baltic state to test Western resolve or as a precursor to a wider offensive.
Mr Petraeus, who headed the CIA after a stellar military career, also criticised US President Donald Trump for repeatedly granting second chances to Putin and took aim at predecessor Joe Biden for failures to adequately arm Ukrainian forces.
Mr Petraeus, who led tens of thousands of US, British and other nationality troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, also called on the UK to withdraw from international accords forbidding the use of cluster munitions on the battlefield.
He said that these weapons could prove an essential deterrent.
Speaking at the Policy Exchange think-tank in London, Mr Petraeus said: ‘What we’ve seen is three incidences where the US President has threatened that in two weeks we’ll have to take a different approach.
‘We’ll see this time what actually happens. The US also temporised far too long over individual decisions such as M1 [Abrams] tanks. A blind man on a dark night could see it had to be the F-16 [a multi- role fighter aircraft].
Vladimir Putin (pictured) will invade a Nato country if he succeeds in Ukraine, it has been warned
David Petraeus (pictured), a respected former US general and CIA chief, claimed Lithuania would be most at risk
A view of the destruction after Russian forces carry out a combined attack with missiles and drones in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine on May 25, 2025
‘There were no more MiGs anywhere in Europe we could provide them [the Ukrainians] with, it had to be F-16s.
‘The same with multiple-launch rocket systems, the improved conventional munitions and lifting the limits [on their use].
‘This was very unhelpful to the Ukrainians. Each time they’d have to ask and wait, and then we’d say no, and then maybe, and then eventually they’d get it.
‘We should have done so much with the Ukrainians that they could change the dynamic on the battlefield to show Moscow they cannot achieve additional gains on the battlefield at an acceptable cost, knowing what is acceptable to them is quite astronomical.’
Mr Petraeus stated that Russia’s aim was to topple president Volodymyr Zelensky in order to ‘install a puppet leader and to control all of Ukraine’.
He added: ‘Once that’s done, you are going to see them focus on one of the Baltic states.
‘Lithuania has featured prominently in his speeches and we should have listened a lot more.’
Mr Petraeus described Russia’s losses as ‘unimaginable’.
Mr Petraeus also criticised US President Donald Trump (pictured) for repeatedly granting second chances to Putin
Nearly a million Russians are understood to have been battlefield casualties including 500,000 either killed or unfit for the frontline.
Russia is thought to be dragging its feet over a peace deal so it can capture more Ukrainian territory.
The Kremlin has also refused repeated Ukrainian offers of a 30-day ceasefire, insisting that its grievances must be addressed before the fighting stops.
While Mr Trump has changed his tone towards Putin, describing his behaviour as ‘absolutely crazy’, the US is yet to effectively force him to the negotiating table.