The polite applause faded and NATO chief Mark Rutte arranged his papers neatly on the rostrum. It took him 62 seconds to get to the point. “The dark forces of oppression are on the march again,” he said. “We are Russia’s next target.” Rutte’s speech in Berlin on December 11 was just the latest in an unprecedented series of warnings of direct conflict with Russia made in 2025 by senior European officials and intelligence agencies. In February, Danish intelligence said “Russia sees itself in conflict with…