NATO Commander Warns Any Attack Would Be Met With Force Beyond the Front Line

NATO's top military commander said Monday that the alliance would hit not only any force that attacked it but everything backing that force. U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the supreme allied commander in Europe, spoke at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland as European worries grow about a possible Russian attack on alliance territory.

Grynkewich did not name Russia, according to both Al Jazeera and Fox News. Both outlets reported, however, that the message was widely read as aimed at Moscow. He said NATO is a defensive alliance and that he does not think a conflict is imminent or inevitable.

What Grynkewich said NATO would do

Grynkewich described a three-step approach: block, blunt and break. By his account, NATO would first stop an initial attack. If the attack continued, it would blunt the assault and prevent any enemy advance. If necessary, it would break the enemy's forces and the war-fighting system arrayed against the alliance.

He said the response would not stop at troops on the front line. It would also reach whatever supports, sustains and controls them, which he summed up as "anything and everything," according to Al Jazeera and Fox News. He said any attack on any ally would prove futile.

Fox News reported that he spoke on a panel about how to achieve military success against Russia. It also reported that he said NATO is already putting the approach into practice through exercises, higher readiness and investment in new capabilities. By Fox's account, he added that the alliance is ready to fight immediately if attacked but is not complacent.

The tensions behind the warning

European governments have accused Moscow of a campaign of sabotage, arson, drone incursions and cyberattacks, according to both outlets. Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in sabotage and other hybrid operations, Al Jazeera reported.

Fox News said Russian drones entered Polish airspace in 2025 during a large-scale attack on Ukraine, prompting a response from Polish and allied aircraft. NATO then launched Operation Eastern Sentry to bolster its eastern flank. Fox also reported that Romania has cited Russian drone incursions and that Estonia has accused Russian military aircraft of violating its airspace.

On Sept. 30, Russia warned NATO in a diplomatic note, obtained by Reuters, that it could use nuclear weapons if the alliance tried to cut off Kaliningrad, its Baltic exclave. According to Fox, the note also raised the possibility of strikes on decision-making centers in NATO countries at the start of a conflict. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte rejected the threats the same day and urged Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this month that Russia has no plans to attack any European country and wants peaceful coexistence. Al Jazeera reported that European leaders have not been reassured, pointing to similar statements before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Why it matters for people in NATO countries

Grynkewich said he chose to speak publicly because recent sabotage and arson had made people across the alliance nervous. He said he wanted to assure the alliance's one billion citizens that NATO knows what it needs to do and how to do it.

The speech was in large part a message of deterrence and reassurance. The sources describe no new deployments or policy changes announced at the forum. NATO's 2022 strategy document names Russia as the most significant threat to allied security, and the speech fits that stance.

Grynkewich also addressed doubts about U.S. commitment to the alliance. Fox News reported that President Donald Trump has pressed European allies to spend more on defense and has questioned whether countries that fall short should expect U.S. protection. Grynkewich said he felt warmth toward the alliance from Trump at a recent summit: "I was in the room and I felt the love."

The outlets differ on which summit he meant. Al Jazeera said it was a NATO summit in Ankara in July. Fox News said it was the 2025 summit in The Hague, Netherlands.

Hybrid attacks and open lines of communication

Grynkewich said the best way to preserve peace is to prepare for war while keeping lines of communication open to resolve misunderstandings. Fox News reported that he also said he would be willing to discuss suspected hybrid attacks more openly if individual member governments asked him to.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Fox News