European powers are increasingly worried that even if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t invade Ukraine he’ll create a "new normal” of heightened tensions for Europe and the U.S. to grapple with, according to people familiar with the discussions.
As the U.S. and its allies struggle for a sense of Putin’s true intentions, their attention is turning to what might happen either alongside, or in place of, a full military attack.
Those scenarios range from Russia keeping some troops or equipment on the Ukraine border for longer, to carrying out cyberattacks on European nations or undertaking activities designed to undermine Ukraine from within, the people said. Given he has massed troops near Ukraine before, only to withdraw them, the Russian president may need other avenues to keep European countries and the U.S. guessing and on their toes.