The training was on such a large scale that it could only have been practicing for what would happen during a war with the U.S.-led NATO defense alliance, according to the European Leadership Network, which on Wednesday published a report looking at the increased military exercises on both sides of the Russia-West divide. The war in Ukraine has prompted NATO to create command units across eastern Europe, while Russia has recalibrated its military goals toward the transatlantic alliance, which it accuses of approaching its borders. We do not suggest that the leadership of either side has made a decision to go to war or that a military conflict between the two is inevitable, but that the changed profile of exercises is a fact and it does play a role in sustaining the current climate of tensions in Europe. Russia’s "exercises are part of a more aggressive Russian military doctrine," said NATO deputy spokeswoman Carmen Romero in a statement in response to the report. Russian leaders, meanwhile, have long complained of NATO’s expansion to their borders and say that it is a threat to Russia’s own security interests. “Russia is deliberately avoiding military transparency and predictability.” 
 
 President Vladimir Putin last month approved Russia’s new naval doctrine that puts greater focus on the Atlantic and the Arctic to counter NATO’s activity near its borders. Both exercises show that each side is training with the other side’s capabilities and most likely war plans in mind.
– Like a game of Risk, Russia and NATO have not only been suspiciously eying each other in recent months, but also conducting military exercises in border areas that the Washington Post says are making Europe "a region of high military drama." Now a UK-based think tank is warning that these war games could lead to real conflict if they don't start communicating and scaling down their activities, the Guardian reports. The European Leadership Network says that although reps from both sides may insist these training exercises—including a flurry of activity in March for Russia and in June for NATO, per the Post—are against hypothetical opponents, it's clear there are definite foes in mind, and that alleviative measures need to take place ASAP to stave off a possible confrontation. "Russia is preparing for a conflict with NATO, and NATO is preparing for a possible confrontation with Russia," the report asserts, adding that even though this doesn't make a real conflict unavoidable, it helps perpetuate tension in the region—especially thick since the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The organization's recommendation: Tamp down the size and scale of said exercises, start hammering out a new treaty on limiting the types of weapons used along the borders, and publicly announce beforehand when exercises are being held (Russia is pointed out as a prime offender in this regard). But a NATO rep told Bloomberg that the ELN report "misleadingly puts NATO and Russian exercises on par" and that "the scale and scope of Russia's exercises are far beyond anything the alliance is doing. Russia is deliberately avoiding military transparency and predictability." (NATO's got its hands full with ISIS, too.)