Vitaker called on NATO to step up its support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's hybrid attacks

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker stated that Russia’s hybrid actions are primarily aimed at forcing allies to stop supporting Ukraine. According to him, the response to such actions should be to step up assistance to Kyiv.

“Why is this happening? It is happening primarily to deter NATO and its allies from supporting Ukraine… So this means we must step up our efforts even further. We must not allow ourselves to be deterred,” Whitaker emphasized.

He added that NATO must also invest in resilience, the protection of critical infrastructure, and the strengthening of its systems to counter new hybrid threats.

The ambassador noted that these needs were taken into account when the commitment to increase Alliance countries’ defense spending to 5% of GDP was adopted.

Speaking about the possibility of invoking Article 5 of the Washington Treaty in response to hybrid attacks, the ambassador emphasized that it does not provide for an automatic response mechanism.

“Article 5 is, in fact, intentionally quite vague. It is a matter for the 32 allies to resolve through consultation and discussion, with the obvious involvement of their capitals,” he said.

Vitaker assured that the U.S. is not backing down from its commitments to NATO.

“We are not backing down. We are simply asking our allies to take a step forward and join us, and many of them are responding,” the ambassador said.

He also called on NATO to increase its readiness for potential challenges and to develop its defense-industrial base on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Readiness is really the key: more capabilities, but above all a level of readiness we haven’t seen before, and a readiness to act in wartime. It’s that simple,” Whitaker said.

Vitaker made these remarks on Wednesday at the Euronews Defense and Space Summit in Brussels, according to Ukrinform.

Europe’s security ranks only fourth on the U.S. list of priorities, according to Whitaker.

On August 27, the European Commission stated that it had not been notified of CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow. At the same time, the EU emphasized that it continues to strengthen its own defense capabilities.

U.S. President Donald Trump commented for the first time on CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow, stating that his trip was “semi-routine.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe did not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow.