NATO Responses To Russian Attacks Will Not Always Be Public Or Tit-For-Tat Rutte

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Rutte said this during a joint press conference with Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaūgas Sinkevičius at NATO headquarters in Brussels, according to Ukrinform.

“When it comes to the word 'hybrid,' I have said many times that it sounds a bit soft and innocent. In the end, we are talking about gray-zone tactics: these can be drones, sabotage or even cyberattacks,” Rutte said.

At the same time, he stressed that NATO has all the necessary response options on the table.

“You will not always see them publicly. They will not always be symmetrical. It will not always be tit-for-tat, but we have the response options we need,” the secretary general said.

He cited a symmetrical action as an example: when an undersea cable between Finland and Estonia was cut in late 2025, NATO launched Operation Baltic Sentry to protect critical undersea infrastructure.

As an example of an asymmetric response, Rutte mentioned the actions of allies such as Sweden, the United Kingdom, Belgium and France aimed at making it more difficult for Russia's“shadow fleet” to operate, so that“these rusty tankers do not generate profits for Russia.”

At the same time, Rutte advocated a measured approach in responding to Russian provocations, saying that NATO must bear in mind that it is dealing with the Kremlin leader, who has already sacrificed the lives of up to 1.2 million of his own servicemen in a“completely unprovoked war.”

“So there is a certain need for restraint here, but at the same time, we need to continue investing in defense, as the Lithuanian government and other NATO countries are doing,” Rutte said, urging allies to continue strengthening the Alliance.

He also welcomed the recent interception of a drone over Lithuania by Italian fighter jets as part of an air defense mission.

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Another element of the response to Russia's actions is continued support for Ukraine, the secretary general stressed.

“The best response to any Russian action in this gray zone is to increase, not decrease, support for Ukraine. Because ultimately, their goal is to divide us, make us lose focus on Ukraine and start having discussions among ourselves about what is happening, why it is happening, and how these events are connected,” Rutte explained.

“Our message to Moscow is clear. We will do more for Ukraine, not less,” the secretary general concluded.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Alexus Grynkewich said that the allies had stepped up intelligence sharing in response to a wave of acts of sabotage and other incidents likely linked to Russia, and called for calm amid threats from Moscow.

Photo: nato

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