NATO is militarily far superior to Russia - Grynkewich

BERLIN - NATO's military capabilities are clearly superior to Russia's, the defense alliance's supreme commander, US General Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

In the interview published on Friday, Grynkewich said that the military capabilities the alliance would deploy in a major conflict "far exceed those of Moscow." Russia does not have modern F-35 fighter jets, nor the mass of modern destroyers or submarines that NATO has, he noted.

The general said he was certain Russia would not launch a large-scale conventional attack on Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin is resorting to other methods, such as sabotage because he has no other options, he argued, adding that Putin did not want a direct conflict. This, according to the general, was due to conventional deterrence, he said, stressing that this had to be maintained, along with modernizing the armed forces within NATO, carrying out extensive training and demonstrating capabilities.

Asked whether it was appropriate to term Russia's actions as "shadow" warfare, the four-star general told Spiegel it was too vague to talk of hybrid attacks.

"We must call things by their name: Sabotage, arson or terror attacks are precise terms, with clear answers," he said.

Asked whether Europe was already at war with Russia, Grynkewich said Putin was playing a "dangerous game."

"He wants to convince our people that it is dangerous to support Ukraine, and that this could end in a war with Russia," Grynkewich said, adding that so far, fortunately, this strategy has not worked.

Following recent threats from Moscow that isolating or even attacking the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad would trigger a war, Grynkewich stressed that NATO is a defensive alliance and would only act if attacked.

"So Russia does not need to worry about Kaliningrad," he added.

However, Grynkewich noted that the war in Ukraine has weakened Russia’s position in this exclave, while NATO has grown stronger in the Baltics.

"The situation there is militarily unfavorable for Russia," the general noted.

He added that NATO exercises on its eastern flank were routine, and that the alliance was careful to avoid anything that could be interpreted as aggression.

Commenting on the attempted sabotage act at Leipzig Airport in Germany in August, Grynkewich said that the mere attempt was a transgression.

German investigators concluded that the target was Ukrainian cargo planes, and Berlin blames Russia for the incident.

Had it succeeded, several fully fueled Antonov aircraft would have been blown up and there would presumably have been fatalities, Grynkewich said.

Given the importance of drones in the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the general said NATO must quickly improve in this area.

"We require masses of single-use attack drones, cheaper cruise missiles and much more," he said.