NATO’s top military commander has warned that the alliance would respond to any attack with “anything and everything” at its disposal, as European concern grows over a possible Russian strike on alliance territory during the war in Ukraine. Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, US Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich said anyone foolish enough to attack NATO would face overwhelming force. He did not name Russia directly.
Grynkewich described NATO as a defensive alliance and said he did not see a conflict as imminent or unavoidable. In his view, the best way to keep the peace is to prepare for war while keeping open channels of communication to clear up misunderstandings.
Grynkewich outlines how NATO would respond to an attack
He said NATO would first stop an opening assault, then blunt any sustained push and halt any enemy advance. If necessary, the alliance would break the adversary’s forces and the military system organised against it, he added.
The response, he said, would not be confined to the units carrying out the initial attack. It would also target whatever supports, sustains or directs those forces, and he warned that the adversary would be left with no realistic path to success.
Sabotage, drone incursions and Russia’s nuclear warning
European governments have accused Moscow of stepping up sabotage, drone incursions and cyberattacks against them. Russia warned last month that it could use nuclear weapons if NATO tried to cut off its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, where it maintains a major military outpost.
NATO’s 10-year strategy, drawn up in 2022, identifies Russia as the most significant security threat facing the alliance. Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in sabotage and other hybrid operations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said this month that Russia had no plans to attack any European country and wanted to live peacefully alongside its neighbours. European leaders have not been reassured, pointing to similar statements Moscow made before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Grynkewich seeks to reassure allies and citizens
Grynkewich said he chose to speak publicly about NATO’s plans because recent sabotage and arson incidents had left people across the alliance uneasy. He said he wanted to tell the alliance’s one billion citizens that NATO has the situation in hand and knows how it would act.
He also moved to play down doubts about Washington’s commitment to the alliance. He pointed to the reception President Donald Trump received at a NATO summit in Ankara in July, saying he had been in the room and had sensed the warmth toward the US leader.
