NATO's top military commander has issued a stern warning to Vladimir Putin that the alliance will win and destroy its enemies if Russia attacks. US General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, warned of an overwhelming reaction if Moscow's troops attack Europe.
Warning at Warsaw security conference
Speaking at a Warsaw security conference, Grynkewich introduced NATO's 'theory of victory', declaring: "If someone is foolish enough to attack us, we will fight. We will stop the attack and deny them the ability to achieve their objectives, whatever those might be. We will, in short, ensure any attack, against any ally, proves utterly futile."
He added that any counter-attack might go beyond defending and would go further to destroy those governing the military machine on the offensive. "Should the adversary choose to press the attack or commit his reserves, we will break the warfighting system engaged against us. This includes not just the attacking force itself, but anything and everything that supports, sustains, and controls that force."
Rising tensions and Russian losses
The warning was issued as tension between Russia and NATO has intensified over the Kremlin's full-scale invasion and war in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is said by Kyiv to have lost at least 50,000 troops to death or injury in the past month on the battlefield, almost 1,500 just in the past 24 hours.
With the death and injury toll on Moscow's troops reaching 1,554,310 since the 2022 full-scale invasion was launched, Russia is desperately short of soldiers. Thousands more North Korean troops are expected to be dragged into the war in the coming months, and Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-Un has sent civilians to help in Russia's factories.
Political and military fallout
There are also increasing rumours that Putin will order a mobilisation across Russia, a hugely unpopular move as the war becomes increasingly unpopular. US President Donald Trump has pivoted back towards Moscow with a deal to buy Russian diesel and has called for Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil depots.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has branded Trump's Russia diesel deal a "gift" to Vladimir Putin, who is desperate for currency to pay for his failing war. Kyiv's attacks in the past year on Russia's oil refineries have been a major blow to the Kremlin's war effort, which is reliant on energy sales and exports.
Repeated Russian airspace violations have put NATO's eastern flank countries such as the Baltic States on high alert for a Russian incursion, and there have been repeated espionage attacks across Europe, thought to have been triggered by Russian spies.
