The top operational commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization says the alliance is prepared to destroy “anything and everything” in response to a hypothetical Russian attack.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe for NATO, made the threat at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland on Monday. While he did not call out Russia by name, NATO intelligence and threat assessment continue to characterize Moscow as the most prominent military threat to the alliance.
“If someone is foolish enough to attack us, we will fight […] We will stop the attack and deny them the ability to achieve their objectives, whatever those might be,” Grynkewich said. “We will, in short, ensure any attack, against any ally, proves utterly futile.”
Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, commander of the United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, speaks at the Warsaw Security Forum in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Attila Husejnow)
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Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, commander of the United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, speaks at the Warsaw Security Forum in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Attila Husejnow)
The commander added that a NATO response to an attack would not stop at military personnel and infrastructure, but extend to anything that contributes to the aggressor’s capacity to wage war.
“Should the adversary choose to press the attack or commit his reserves, we will break the warfighting system engaged against us,” Grynkewich said. “This includes not just the attacking force itself, but anything and everything that supports, sustains, and controls that force.”
Grynkewich did not need to explain that his comments were directed at the Kremlin. World leaders and foreign ministers gathered in Warsaw spoke at length about the threat of Russian aggression, a consideration made all the more immediate by the forum’s location on the eastern flank of the alliance.
Hybrid attacks and drone incursions have become routine in the NATO member states that border Eastern Europe, and incidents have become increasingly common, even in Western European states like Germany.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned those gathered at the event that Russian leaders continue to demonstrate they are “not interested in a ceasefire, de-escalation, or peace.”
“That is why I will go to Brussels: to urge all European partners to consider increasing sanctions,” Tusk said at the forum. “Ukraine cannot be broken or intimidated. Poland cannot be intimidated. The world cannot be broken or intimidated. That signal must go out today from every capital, from Warsaw to Washington.”
President Donald Trump demanded on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine enter into a partial “ceasefire” by agreeing to not strike each other’s energy infrastructure.
Servicemen enter armoured vehicles during the French-led NATO Eagle Spearhead exercise, at the “Getica” National Joint Training Center in Cincu, central Romania, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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Servicemen enter armoured vehicles during the French-led NATO Eagle Spearhead exercise, at the “Getica” National Joint Training Center in Cincu, central Romania, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would “respect an energy ceasefire if Russia is ready to do the same.” But that ceasefire does not seem to have manifested with multiple Ukrainian energy facilities struck overnight.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov hand-waved the idea of a temporary ceasefire on Monday, saying they were only interested in a long-term solution.
LITHUANIA MOVES TO ALLOW NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON ITS TERRITORY, SPARKING THREATS OF ‘ESCALATION’ FROM RUSSIA
“In the Kremlin, both President [Vladimir] Putin and officials at other levels have repeatedly stated that we do not want a ceasefire,” Peskov told reporters. “We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it.”
Lithuania is currently working to reform its constitution in hopes of allowing the United States to place tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, a move that Moscow has decried as unnecessary escalation.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
