Anna Hartz
NATO Warns Against Underestimating Russia as Sabotage Grows
Rutte urged NATO members to stay calm and continue supporting Ukraine.
Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Rutte was asked whether the term “hybrid threats” was too mild to describe Russia’s actions. He agreed that the phrase can make the situation sound less serious than it is. “It sounds a bit cuddly,” he said, according to The Guardian.
Not all responses are public
Rutte said NATO has “all the response options we need” when dealing with sabotage and other activities below the level of open warfare, reports United24Media. He added that some responses are public while others are not.
Russian operations across Europe have included suspected sabotage, cyberattacks, drone incidents and attacks on critical infrastructure. NATO officials have repeatedly warned that Moscow is testing the alliance while trying to weaken support for Ukraine.
Rutte said allies should not overreact to individual incidents. He called for calm while NATO countries continue increasing their defense spending and supporting Ukraine.
“The best response to any action in this grey zone of what Russia is doing is more support for Ukraine,” Rutte said.
He also warned against underestimating Russia. NATO, he said, needs to keep investing in defense so that it remains stronger in the years ahead.
New emergency system for the EU?
Rutte has previously said that NATO does not always need to respond to a hybrid attack in the same way. He pointed to Baltic Sentry, which was created to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea after damage to an undersea cable between Finland and Estonia.
On September 29, Estonia also accused Russian special services of ordering an arson attack on Milrem Robotics, a defense company in Tallinn that supplies equipment to Ukraine. Russia has rejected the accusation.
Rutte welcomed Estonia’s decision to publicly attribute the attack to Russia. He said NATO should remain united and continue responding to hostile actions.
The EU has also been considering a new emergency system to coordinate responses to sabotage, cyberattacks and other hostile activities that do not necessarily trigger NATO’s collective defense provisions.
For NATO, the message remains that Russia should not be underestimated, but neither should individual incidents cause panic among allied countries.
