Russia’s ‘hybrid attacks’ against NATO ‘look like war’ and allies must draw ‘red lines’
Russia’s unconventional attacks against NATO “look like war” and allies must set new red lines that will trigger a retaliation if crossed, a former foreign minister has warned.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, who stepped down as foreign minister of Lithuania earlier this month after four years in the post, told Sky News he did not believe the alliance was responding with sufficient speed and urgency to the threat.
Moscow is accused of a campaign of so-called hybrid attacks – designed to sit in a grey zone under the threshold of conventional war – that includes sabotage, the cutting of undersea cables, cyber hacks, election interference and assassination plots.
The Kremlin has denied Western allegations of hybrid hostilities.
Mr Landsbergis said a failure by NATO to act would lead to a worsening of the danger.
Lithuania’s former foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. Pic: Reuters
He warned there was even a possibility of an act of Russian hybrid warfare being sufficiently harmful that it could prompt allies to invoke an Article 5 response, whereby an attack on one member state is seen as an attack on all.
“From my perspective, it does look like war,” the Lithuanian politician said in an interview earlier in December, a couple of days before he left his post as foreign minister.
“Russians are… very good at sensing weakness or geopolitical vacuums. So, if there is no pushback, they will just creep on and continue with their activity.”
Asked whether Russian “grey zone” attacks could reach a level that prompted the alliance to invoke Article 5, Mr Landsbergis said: “Yes, I would think so. It is it is possible.”
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NATO warning over Russian attacks
He said it was important that Vladimir Putin understood this as otherwise his intelligence services would become even more brazen in their alleged attacks.
“We have to have a general NATO strategy that would be able to draw red lines and suggest a retaliation,” he said.
“I’m not necessarily saying a retaliation in kind. Right. It can be many things. But Russians need to know that this is not their park. You cannot just walk around and expect nothing to happen to you.”
NATO’s 32 member states are updating a 2015 strategy on tracking, deterring and countering hybrid warfare.
But the former Lithuanian foreign minister signalled that he did not believe their response to the threat was sufficiently fast or urgent.
“No, honestly, it isn’t,” he said.
Read more from Sky News:
NATO chief calls for shift to wartime mindset
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He said countries like his and others with long experience of Russian hostility understood the need to act – but that some other allies would rather just hope the threat goes away.
“There’s a big psychological, you know, game, at least in our minds, being played where we try to sweep it under the carpet and not see it.”
The comments came after Sky News on Sunday published an interview with a top alliance official who warned there was a “real prospect” an unconventional attack by Russia against NATO would cause “substantial” casualties.
James Appathurai, who is updating the NATO strategy to track and deter hybrid warfare, also said allies must be clearer among themselves and with Moscow about what level of grey zone hostilities could trigger an allied response, including the use of military force.
James Appathurai is updating a NATO strategy to track and deter so-called hybrid warfare
Elisabeth Braw, a leading expert on hybrid warfare, said the entire way of life for liberal democracies was at risk if allies fail to respond effectively.
“The danger is that we see a death by a thousand cuts in our societies, that various things start malfunctioning or being disrupted and people lose faith in our way of life,” she said.
“And then we are we are really in trouble.”
World
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Police investigating the deaths of a British couple at their home in rural France have released details from a post-mortem examination.
Prosecutors say Dawn Searle, 56, was found at their property in Les Pesquies with “several” injuries to her head, while her husband, Andrew Searle, 62, was found hanged with no visible defensive injuries.
They are investigating whether the deaths are the result of a murder-suicide or if a third party was involved.
The pair are said to have been found dead by a German friend, who lives nearby, on Thursday after Mr Searle didn’t arrive for one of their regular dog walks.
The couple moved to the hamlet of Les Pesquies around a decade ago and married in the nearby town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, in the south of France, in 2023.
Andrew and Dawn Searle’s home
A statement from the office of public prosecutor Nicolas Rigot-Muller said Ms Searle was found partially dressed with a major wound to her skull next to a box with jewellery inside.
But no object or weapon was found that could’ve caused the wounds, which an autopsy carried out in Montpellier on Monday found were caused by a blunt and sharp object. There were no signs of sexual assault.
The house appeared to have been quickly searched, while some cash was found in the couple’s room.
Investigators are conducting further examinations, including toxicology and pathology tests, to help determine the precise circumstances of their deaths.
A police officer outside Andrew and Dawn Searle’s home in France
The village of Villefranche-de-Rouergue Aveyron
They each have two children from previous relationships and Ms Searle’s son, the country musician and former Hollyoaks star Callum Kerr, said they were in mourning in a statement posted on Saturday.
Family members are understood to have travelled to France, where they have spoken with investigators.
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The mayor of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Jean-Sebastien Orcibal, who was also a neighbour of the Searles, said villagers and the British expat community were going to be getting “psychological help” following the incident, which has left locals in shock.
Speaking to Sky News from the town hall in which he conducted the couple’s wedding ceremony, he said: “It doesn’t seem like the problem comes from here because when we knew them and saw them living here they were very happy, very friendly and didn’t seem to have any problems.
“The problem seems to come from the past or somewhere far away.
“It’s an isolated act, it’s very independent. It doesn’t say that it’s a very dangerous territory, in fact, it’s very peaceful and that’s why probably Andy and Dawn chose to live here, because it’s very peaceful.
“Now, did their past come back and get them? That’s another story. That’s totally different from where we are. It could’ve happened anywhere.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson previously said: “We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in France and are liaising with the local authorities.”
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