NATO believes Europe must step up support for Ukraine to deter Putin – Bloomberg
General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has stated that Europe must step up its support for Ukraine in response to Russian hybrid attacks.
Source: Grynkewich at the Warsaw Security Forum in a comment to Bloomberg
Details: Commenting on the intensifying wave of Russian aggression against Europe, which includes NATO airspace violations, arson, sabotage and cyberattacks, Grynkewich noted: "They're trying to break our collective will."
He cited Denmark and Germany as examples, which increased their aid to Ukraine after hybrid attacks were carried out on their territories.
Quote from Grynkewich: "Those are appropriate responses that show Russia that the objectives that they're seeking to attain are unobtainable."
Details: Bloomberg notes that these attacks occurred against the backdrop of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's forces continuing to suffer significant losses in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the publication says, Ukrainians are inflicting ever-greater economic damage on the Russian occupiers by conducting numerous attacks on oil refineries and data centres deep inside Russia.
NATO, as before, largely leaves it to individual countries to respond to such incidents independently. Last month, Germany, for the first time, officially accused Russia of attempting to attack Leipzig Airport using a drone laden with explosives.
Quote from Grynkewich: "I'm certainly not afraid to attribute it [to Russia]. If a nation wants me to, I'm happy to talk about it."
Details: The news platform notes that although political forces criticising further support for Ukraine are gaining traction in Europe and decisive elections are set to take place in 2027, Grynkewich expressed his conviction that they will be "subsumed" by Ukraine's "centrality" to European security.
Quote from Grynkewich: "I think it will become very obvious to them very quickly what the right thing to do is, and why it's necessary for their own national security."
Details: Bloomberg explains that Grynkewich is in Poland to present his plans on how to swiftly defeat Russia should it invade NATO territory amid rising tensions between the military alliance and Russia.
The disclosure of the "theory of victory" is intended to deter Russia by demonstrating what would happen if it seized NATO territory, he noted.
Grynkewich added that drones and artificial intelligence technologies are an integral part of this strategy, primarily augmenting the advantages NATO already holds over Russia, such as F-35 fighter jets.
When asked whether these efforts might be hampered by US President Donald Trump's agreement with Putin on diesel fuel imports from Russia to the US, he replied that he was focusing exclusively on military matters.
"Windows of opportunity come and go. We have to look for those windows of opportunity and seize them when they're available," he said regarding the establishment a dialogue aimed at ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Background:
- On 11 October, Trump claimed that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to an immediate energy ceasefire.
- Barak Ravid, a journalist at American news portal Axios, stated that Zelenskyy had been unaware of the "energy ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia announced by Trump but is willing to agree to it.
- Later, Zelenskyy reported a Russian strike on CHP-5 [a combined heat and power plant] in Kharkiv and a power plant in Kyiv following Trump's statement.
- The Russian side has not yet commented on Trump's statement.
- Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Russia had violated the "energy ceasefire" immediately after it was announced by Donald Trump.
- A White House official told Axios that an "energy ceasefire", as understood by the US president, means that Russia and Ukraine will stop attacks solely on each other's oil refineries, and that this is what Washington expects Ukraine to do. However, Ukraine has only one oil refinery, which is not operating at full capacity.
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