NATO Secretary General Promises Low-Key Responses to Russian Provocations
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the Alliance has various options for responding to hybrid attacks by the Russian Federation, and that the allies’ response will not necessarily be symmetrical or public.
According to him, Russia employs aggressive “gray zone” tactics, which include the use of drones, sabotage, and cyberattacks; however, NATO possesses all the necessary tools to counter them.
As an example of a symmetrical response, Rutte cited Operation Baltic Sentry, launched in late 2025 to protect undersea infrastructure after a cable between Finland and Estonia was cut. At the same time, certain Alliance countries—including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, and France—are employing asymmetric measures to disrupt the activities of Russia’s “shadow fleet” in order to deprive the Kremlin of revenue from oil transportation.
The Alliance’s Secretary General also emphasized the need to continue investing in defense, noted the successful downing of an enemy drone over Lithuania, and called the increase in aid to Ukraine the main response to Russia’s attempts to divide the allies.
Rutte made these remarks during a press conference in Brussels.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russian army could attack a NATO member country within the next five years. This would test the alliance’s resilience.
Before meeting with an American delegation consisting of U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, dictator Putin stated that Russia is supposedly ready to go to war with Europe but has no such intention.
In the event of a Russian attack on NATO members, the Alliance could launch a preemptive strike against targets on Russian territory, according to Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy considers it entirely possible that Russia could open a second front against another European country even before the war in Ukraine ends.
