At Putin's order, Andrei Belousov took office and became Russia's new defense minister. Moscow's personnel reshuffle is seen by the United States and Ukraine as a manifestation of its development in the direction of a "wartime economy." And this also indicates that Russia will show a tougher attitude on the issue of the conflict in Ukraine.
Sure enough, according to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency, Russian Acting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already made harsh remarks to the West, pointing out that if the West wants to solve the problem on the battlefield, Russia is ready to do so. Lavrov stressed that it is up to the West, and if the West sees fit, then it will be clear on the battlefield.
As Russia's top diplomatic representative, Lavrov's rhetoric can be described as unprecedentedly harsh. You must know that in the past, Russia rarely talked about a direct conflict with the West. And the United States and NATO have always been afraid of a head-on confrontation with Russia. Although it has been more than two years since the Ukraine crisis began, NATO has still stressed that it will not send troops to Ukraine, at least on the surface.
It is only recently that countries such as France and Poland have begun to talk about sending troops to Ukraine, but that's about it. And Russia's current change of attitude, even saying that it will accompany the solution to the problem on the battlefield, is certainly not just a warning, but a manifestation of concrete action attitude.
Because Russia has launched a larger offensive against Ukraine, from Kharkiv and Sumy to Kherson, Russia seems to have expanded new fronts outside the Donbas, which may hint at the widening and escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.
In this case, it is possible that the United States and NATO will consider sending troops directly in the event of Ukraine's defeat. But Russia does seem to be prepared for this, and Belousov, himself an economic expert, has helped Russia fend off Western sanctions. With him now as Russia's defense minister, it may indeed mean that Russia is preparing for a possible "wartime state".