
Czech Army Gen. Petr Pavel, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, said Russia’s Zapad 2017 war games are preparation for a “big war,” and the massive concentration of troops could lead to a “human mistake” that leads to a real conflict.
Such comments, including Pavel’s warning that the Russian war games could lead to “unintended consequences of potential incidents” are not uncommon during large-scale military exercises by either side. But the general’s true concern is over troop numbers—Russia says it’s deployed 13,000 and NATO says it’s closer to 10 times that number.