NATO urged to prepare for a global maritime challenge from Russia

The North Atlantic Alliance should reconsider its strategic framework and prepare for a confrontation with Russia that will go beyond the traditional scenarios in the Atlantic or Europe. This conclusion is contained in the latest review of the NATO Military College (NDC).

"This shifts the scope of NATO's guidelines beyond the renewed "Battle for the Atlantic" or scenarios of ground operations in Northeastern Europe towards a multi-front, interspecific Russian challenge with a global horizon," TASS quoted the document as saying on December 14.

The author of the review, Andrew Monahan, a researcher at the college, argues that the development of integrated maritime power is a key feature of Moscow's policy, which allows it to position itself as a leader in geo-economic rivalry.

NATO analysts also note that crisis scenarios often focus on escalation in a single strategic direction from the Baltic to the Kara Sea, but the Russian challenge is broader.

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Zoltan Koshkovich, an analyst at the Hungarian Center for Fundamental Rights, said on December 12 that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's statement on Europe's need to be prepared for conflict speaks to the alliance's desire for war.

On December 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia has no aggressive plans against the European Union (EU) and NATO and is ready to put this in writing. At the same time, the minister declared Russia's readiness to respond to possible attacks by the EU.

On the same day, Rutte called on European countries to increase defense and production spending to "fight Russia." He also stressed that states should continue to "exert pressure on Russia and support efforts aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.