“We are a defensive alliance,” Rutte told reporters at a press conference in Brussels. “Our response would be lethal if they try to attack us. No one should think they can attack NATO, because our reaction will be devastating.”
The Suwałki Gap, a narrow corridor between Poland and Lithuania, links the Baltic states to the rest of NATO territory and separates Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave from Belarus. The area is considered a strategic flashpoint in the event of conflict between Russia and NATO.
Rutte’s comments came amid growing concerns over Russian simulations involving the potential isolation of the gap. He noted that NATO regularly conducts exercises involving various scenarios, using the latest intelligence.
Meanwhile, NATO has launched a new mission, Arctic Watch, under the command of the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk. Modeled on previous NATO operations such as Baltic Watch and Eastern Watch, the mission aims to increase defense and surveillance in the Arctic amid heightened Russian and Chinese interest as melting ice opens new maritime routes.
Concerns over the Suwałki Gap have also been reignited by a recent war game described by The Wall Street Journal, in which former NATO officials, German lawmakers, and security experts simulated a Russian incursion into the Lithuanian city of Marijampolė. The scenario, conducted by Die Welt and the Bundeswehr University in Hamburg, envisioned Russian forces seizing the city under the pretext of a humanitarian crisis in Kaliningrad.
According to Polish participant Bartłomiej Kot of Aspen Institute Central Europe, NATO’s decision-making process was paralyzed in the simulation. Only Poland challenged Russia’s position, while other players accepted a Russian-controlled humanitarian corridor across Lithuanian territory, including airspace restrictions for all non-Russian aircraft.
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Source: PAP, Polish Radio