An unconventional attack by the aggressor country Russia on NATO, such as sabotage or arson, could result in "significant" casualties. This would then pose a threat of a real war, according to Alliance spokesman James Appathurai.
Points of attention
- Russian hybrid attacks on NATO are becoming increasingly aggressive and unacceptable.
- The constant threat of war, which could be provoked by the Russian Federation, has long hung over the entire bloc.
- NATO cannot ignore the sharp increase in the number of kinetic incidents.
Russia may provoke war with NATO
Appathurai points out that in recent years the bloc has already found itself in a "boiling frog" situation.
The de facto statement is that Russian hybrid attacks across Europe, the US, and Canada are going beyond all limits of what is permissible and are becoming "absolutely unacceptable."
NATO cannot ignore the sharp increase in the number of "kinetic" incidents. This includes cutting vital submarine cables, sabotage against buildings, and planting explosive devices in the cargo of aircraft.
"We can definitely count dozens. Up to 100 for sure. But there are still many foiled conspiracies," the expert emphasized.
Of course, it is no secret that in this way Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is simply trying to take revenge on the West for its strong support for Ukraine.
"They don't like what we're doing, but they also see us as the enemy. It's getting worse," James Appathurai added.
NATO understands that everything could end in a major war
Journalists asked an Alliance representative whether a Russian hybrid attack could push the bloc to take radical action — that is, to use a collective response under Article 5 and start a war with Russia.
"As I said, one of these attacks could breach that threshold. What really worries me is that one of these attacks, as I said, would breach out on a large scale," Appathurai explained.
Despite this, he does not hide the fact that Russia in many cases resorts to extremely dangerous provocations, but NATO is doing everything possible to avoid the worst-case scenario.
"So we want to establish a baseline now, then prevent escalation, deal with it if it happens, but also work on de-escalation," the expert added.
