ANDREA KENDALL-TAYLOR is Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. From 2015 to 2018, she was Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council.

Countries facing a resurgent threat from Russia are set to spend hundreds of billions on military gear — and they’re turning to part-timers, conscripts and reserves to rebuild their armies.

The two leaders are set to confirm details of a strengthened defense relationship at a summit Thursday. An agreement on tackling unauthorized migration may also be announced.

The senior official said Russia has been forced to rely increasingly on such amateurs since hundreds of Moscow’s spies were expelled from Western countries following an operation to poison former Russian intelligence officer Sergey Skripal in the U.K. in 2018. That led to the death of a British woman — and a major response from the West.

Using Moscow’s immobilised holdings in Belgium to bolster Ukraine’s economy and defence is both legal and necessary