I should've amended my thought to say the "only chance" is with NATO boots on the ground, and even then, it will be a bloody affair with victory far from guaranteed.
Other than the 72 hour route of Saddam's army in 1991, where they couldn't surrender fast enough, the U.S. has not fought a modern, mechanized force since the Korean War. Since then, our adversaries have almost exclusively been brave men in sandals with AK-47s.
If you listen to some of the reports from American mercenaries fighting on behalf of Ukraine, the lamentations are almost always the same. "This is nothing like Afghanistan. The Russians have artillery."
Other than the 72 hour route of Saddam’s army in 1991,
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Be reminded it took the US 6 months to prepare and move equipment to the theatre, and they had much prepositioned equipment in the Saudi underground tunnels ( I saw them). The US pulled out of the EU years ago, it will take months to move just one full armored division into theatre….and should hostilities begin I doubt much equipment would even reach the EU ( sea lanes would be attacked) and our airlift capability is weak , very weak after the Afghanistan Iraq debacle.
Switching over to Vlad, Russian MOD sources state they are planning and equipping for a “ 30 month” war with NATO, which explains much with Russia’s movements. Do keep in mind Vlad has been on a war manufacturing blitz since at least 2015- 24/7 arms ammo production. This can be confirmed by Russian missile dated fragments found- they are far, far from depletion.
In short, should hostilities begin ( non nuclear),much of the EU cities, airfields and manufacturing ( very little) would be hit by super sonic missiles in minutes, possibly seconds.
Vlad holds all the cards and the West knows it.
Vlad wins, quite possibly in a day or two if played correctly.