NATO’s top general has unveiled a new war plan for countering a Russian attack on members of the alliance, embedding lessons learned from the front lines in Ukraine. Speaking about NATO’s so-called “theory of victory” at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, General Alexus Grynkewich, who has served as head of United States European Command and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe since 2025, said the plan rests on three strategies designed to stop an invasion in its tracks: “block, blunt and break”. The announcement comes amid mounting warnings from European intelligence agencies of rising threats from Russia, including both the prospect of conventional military action and “hybrid warfare”, which can include tactics from cyberattacks to tampering with undersea cables.
In a bid to ease the alliance’s growing concerns, Grynkewich said: “What I want to do is assure the one billion citizens of our alliance that we’ve got this. We know what we need to do. We know how we would do it.” But the new plan from NATO comes at a time when the alliance itself appears divided on how to deal with Russia, following a series of recent overtures from US President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including his latest controversial plan for Russia to release stocks of diesel to global markets despite sanctions on Russian oil.
So, what’s in the new NATO plan, and what are European agencies warning about? And is the alliance even on the same page on all of this? General Grynkewich told the Warsaw Security Forum that NATO does not view a military confrontation with Russia as “imminent or inevitable”, but that it will nevertheless be ready for one.
Drawing directly on lessons learned on the front lines in Ukraine and from conflict in the Middle East, Grynkewich said the plan relies on the use of precision weapons with “affordable mass”, like drones, and other autonomous systems. In the plan, he said, the alliance’s forces would “block” an attack at the border to halt enemy advances on the battlefield, then “blunt” the attack by hitting incoming troops from the air, sea, and land. Then, at last, they would aim to “break” the enemy by targeting the supply chain and command networks.
Enemy commanders will be unable to control their forces. Enemy forces and support capabilities will be reduced and destroyed.” Germany’s foreign intelligence chief, Martin Jaeger, warned last week that the country risked being drawn into a “violent conflict” with Russia, saying Moscow increasingly viewed Berlin as a principal adversary. He cited an attempted drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport in August as an example of the escalating threat.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has also warned of a Russian-linked “shadow war” involving sabotage, cyberattacks and other covert operations. In France, President Emmanuel Macron warned last month that the Russian hybrid threat facing France and other European countries had intensified in recent weeks, and ordered the preparation of plans to protect critical infrastructure. The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said that he had received confirmation upon entering office that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum, although he did not publicly detail the evidence behind that assessment.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
