NATO could fire the first shot at Russia in the face of an escalation in Vlad's shadow war with Europe, a top admiral has warned.
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Chairman NATORussia's military committee said the alliance could be forced to launch a pre-emptive strike, which would be a tightening of its current policy of waiting for a reaction.
Putin terrorizes Europe With sabotage campaign and airspace violations for years, and his shadow operation is only gaining momentum.
Various fires and explosions, including Fire at a Ukrainian-owned warehouse in east London – assigned to the tyrant.
Recent cases also include rupture of submarine cables in the Baltic Sea And series of cyber hacker attacks across the continent.
The surge in such interference is forcing NATO to reconsider its traditional stance on reactive warfare, Dragone told the Financial Times.
He said: “We study everything […] In cyberspace we are a bit reactive.
“We're thinking about becoming more aggressive or proactive rather than reactive.”
Dragone said revenge cyberattacks would be the easiest option because many NATO member countries have the capabilities to carry them out.
Retaliation for physical sabotage or drone intrusion will be more difficult, but not impossible.
The admiral said that a “preemptive strike” could qualify as a defensive action under certain circumstances, although it was “further from our normal way of thinking and behaving.”
Dragone continued: “An option may be to take a more aggressive stance compared to our colleague’s aggressiveness.
“[The questions are] legal framework, jurisdictional framework, who will do it?”
Several NATO member states have already called for a reversal of their reactive stance, especially in eastern countries. Europe who bear the brunt Russiaaggression.
One Baltic diplomat told the FT: “If all we do is continue to react, we will simply invite Russia keep trying, keep hurting us.
“Hybrid warfare is asymmetrical – it costs them little, but it costs us a lot. We need to be more creative.”
Speaking about the possibility of more active NATO activities, Denis Gonchar: RussiaRussian Ambassador to Belgiumaccused the alliance of “intimidating its population with the Kremlin's non-existent attack plans.”
He added that member states had begun to “prepare for a big war with Russia.”
Meanwhile, negotiations continue Florida between senior US diplomats and Ukraine with a view to concluding a peace agreement.
Both sides said on Sunday that the talks had been productive, with Marco Rubio expressing hope for further progress.
Speaking after the talks, Rubio said: “We remain realistic about how difficult it is, but optimistic, especially given the fact that as we have made progress, I think there is a shared vision here that this is not just about ending the war.
“It's about ensuring Ukraine's futurea future that we hope will be more prosperous than ever.
“There is still work to be done. This is a sensitive issue.
“There are a lot of moving parts here, and obviously there is another party involved.
“That has to be part of the equation and that will continue later this week when Mr Witkoff travels to the US. Moscow“
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, leaves for Russia today, where he is expected to meet with his counterparts later this week.
The new push for peace began with the US and Russia developing a peace plan – although it was heavily criticized for supporting Putin's goals.
European leaders in Geneva then helped draft a counterproposal, and the United States said it was willing to make changes to the terms.
President Vladimir Zelensky said he expected the results of the Geneva meetings to be “worked out” in Florida.
Kyiv faces significant pressure from Washington agree to the terms of a peace agreement – all this time Zelensky has been in a very difficult political and military situation.
Sunday's meeting was the first without Zelensky's influential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who resigned on Friday after a corruption scandal.
Ermak was the lead negotiator – and implementer – Kyiv from the start of the war in 2022.
Will Trump bring peace to Ukraine?
Jerome Starkey, Defense Editor
DONALD Trump doesn't understand the details. He wants to make a deal at any cost (until he pays for it) to end the war in Ukraine.
He doesn't seem to care whether it embarrasses Ukraine, humiliates Europe, or rewards Russian aggression.
He doesn't seem to care if it is developed by Russia, tramples on NATO, and encourages tyrants everywhere to seize neighboring lands by force. (Taiwan, be careful).
These are the details. Small details. Unless, of course, you are in Europe or Ukraine. In this case they are fundamental.
Any sane person who understands the war wants yesterday's ceasefire.
But how this war ends matters. Both for the survival of Ukraine and in order to avoid a future war in Europe.
Russia must be contained. He must pay the price for this war and know that the bill for the next one will be higher.
We should take it with a grain of salt when US officials say the deal is done except for some “minor details.”
These minor details are “major problems,” according to Finnish President Alex Stubb. President Zelensky said yesterday that there was still “a lot of work” to be done.
In fact, these small details amount to 44,000 square miles – about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory – an area equal to the size of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.
These are questions like who controls Crimea, Donbass and occupied Zaporozhye and Kherson.
These are questions like who guarantees the security of Ukraine from a third Russian invasion.
Ukraine wants peace more than anyone. But not peace at any cost. It wants lasting peace. Russia wants conquest.
