BRUSSELS, November 12. /TASS/. The Russian army is now battle-tested and much stronger than in 2022, European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said at a forum in Brussels on EU enlargement.

"On the European continent, we now have two battle-tested armies: [the] Russian battle-tested army, which is much stronger than it was back in 2022, and [the] Ukrainian [army]," the defense official pointed out. At the same time, he urged to use the EU enlargement process to integrate Ukraine and its army into the EU military system to prepare for potential confrontation with Russia, which, according to him, would allegedly take place in five years.

Kubilius also supported creating a European defense alliance as soon as possible, which could involve countries outside the EU, to strengthen European military capabilities.