NEW YORK, June 4. /TASS/. The Russian armed forces will recover from the special military operation within two or three years, much faster than previously expected, Norwegian Defense Chief Eirik Kristoffersen said.

"It will take some time [for the Russian military to recover], which gives us a window now for the next two to three years to rebuild our forces, to rebuild our stocks while we are supporting Ukraine," Kristoffersen told Bloomberg. "At one point someone said it’ll take 10 years but I think we’re back to less than 10 years because of the industrial base that is now running in Russia," he pointed out.

Spain's El Pais newspaper reported earlier that Western countries are seriously concerned about how quickly Russia is increasing its military production capacity while the European defense industry is lagging behind.

On May 4, Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, former Director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), said at a hearing of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services that it would take Russia about five to ten years to rebuild its ground forces amid their depletion during the special military operation, in particular to re-equip them with modern weapons and military equipment.