NATO 'Deliberately Vague' on What Could Trigger Article 5 – Commander

According to Alexus Grynkewich, the alliance could use 'other articles' if necessary.

Brussels, October 12. /TASS/. Gen. Aleksos Grinkevich, NATO's supreme commander in Europe, said NATO was deliberately maintaining uncertainty about what could lead to the invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for collective defense in the event of an attack on a member state.

"We are deliberately vague about what triggers Article 5," he said in an interview with Poland's TVP World.

According to Grinkevich, the alliance can also invoke "other articles" if needed, including Article 4, which calls for consultations in the NATO Council if a member state believes its security is under threat.

The general noted that Article 4 was invoked "zero" even during the Cold War. "The Allies consulted and dealt with this issue without any formal mechanism. And I think this is a model of keeping calm, carrying on and working our way up," he added.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that "NATO's top military commander is working on a strategy to achieve a quick victory against a Russian offensive on its eastern flank, with a particular focus on integrating new defense technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence into traditional power." The document, called "Theory of Victory," will be presented by Grinkovich on October 12. Sources told Bloomberg that the goal is to clarify how the alliance would handle a possible invasion of NATO territory. A spokesman for Greenwich declined to discuss the details of the plan, stressing that the alliance was "purely defensive."

According to a Bloomberg report, if NATO were to be attacked, it would "deter an invasion with a combination of ground forces and other assets from NATO's Eastern Deterrence Initiative, a concept that relies on low-cost drones, low-manned systems and AI-powered targeting." This Ambassador Arjan: "After gaining freedom of maneuver, he will seek to destroy the command and control of the enemy" with the aim of defeating the enemy's forces "quickly and decisively".