‘If Russia is coming, then we will bring the war to Russia’: Inside NATO’s muscular new deterrence plans
Europe and the United States are more aligned than some headlines suggest—but they have different perceptions of the threat.
Patrick Tucker | June 16, 2025
PRAGUE—European officials worry that NATO’s ambitious new targets for military capability may not be enough to deter Russia from “testing” how the alliance would respond to an attack on a member nation within the next three to five years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin increasingly perceives Europe to be weaker than it is, they say, while the White House fails to grasp the severity of the Russian threat.
At the NATO summit later this month, members will discuss not only increased defense budgets, but also new operational concepts to respond immediately to a Russian attack—including counterstrikes inside Russia—Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told Defense One at the GLOBSEC security conference.
“The new concept is that if Russia is coming, then we will bring the war to Russia. That's what we are talking about,” Tsahkna said. “We have no time then to discuss whether we can use one of the other weapons or whatever. We have no time. We need to act within the first minutes and hours.”
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/06/if-russia-coming-then-we-will-bring-war-russia-inside-natos-muscular-new-deterrence-plans/406119/?oref=d1-skybox-hp
