Britain ‘MUST prepare for war’ as ex-colonel sets date for when Russia will engage in full-scale conflict

Mr Diggins told GB News: "We are, I think, already at war albeit not a fighting war. It is a direct conflict of sorts. A full-scale conflict may still be a couple of years away, but it’s certainly not an unimaginable scenario.

"What Russia is doing right now is probing continuously. This is the essence of grey-zone warfare.

"They are testing to see where the next area of weakness will be and when they find it, they will push hard into it.

"That could be in the Baltics, it could be in Moldova, or it could be somewhere entirely unexpected. We’ve just seen suspected drone attacks in Ireland.

"That’s what’s happening all the time: Russia identifying vulnerabilities and pressing on them.

"We need to prepare for war, because if we don’t and we remain as weak as we currently are Russia will keep pushing, keep probing, and with no meaningful response from us, they will continue moving forward.

"It is very easy for them to generate a pretext for conflict. In the Baltics, for example, they could claim Russian minorities are being oppressed or prevented from expressing their views.

"It’s simple for them to create that narrative, and then we would find ourselves facing a very serious problem. That’s why we need to be prepared, and why I believe Lord Dannatt’s warning is correct."

GB News host Mark White said: "No one doubts we are already in a hybrid war. We see the effects of this grey-zone conflict every day.

"But some argue it’s still a stretch to think Russia would enter into any sort of confrontation with a Nato country especially while they’re bogged down in Ukraine, unable to push beyond the Donbas and suffering huge material and human losses.

He said: "I disagree. The way they have structured their state particularly their economy is now on a war footing.

"They’re spending around eight per cent of their GDP on defence; some 30 to 40 per cent of all Government expenditure is geared towards security.

"When a country is that heavily configured for conflict, the question becomes: where do they go next? Their ambitions appear to be limitless.

"I don’t foresee a Cold Warstyle invasion of Western Europe. But I do foresee a shifting landscape: sometimes a hot war, sometimes a colder phase, and often hybrid warfare like we’re seeing now."

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump revealed that approximately 25,000 people, predominantly soldiers, had perished in the fighting during the previous month alone.

"Things like this end up in third world wars," the President warned.

"Everyone keeps playing games like this. We will end up in a third world war, and we don't want to see that happen."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Mr Trump was "extremely frustrated" with both Moscow and Kyiv over the lack of progress towards a ceasefire, stating the President wanted action rather than continued talks.