British News Agency

Dragone said, “We are thinking of acting more aggressively and pre-emptively rather than simply reacting.”

Some diplomats, especially from Eastern European countries, are calling on the alliance to stop merely “reacting” and start responding.

According to the admiral, a “pre-emptive strike” could be seen as a “defensive action.”

“However, this goes beyond our usual way of thinking and behaving,” he said. “Perhaps we need to act more aggressively than our opponent. The questions relate to the legal framework and jurisdiction: Who will carry it out?”

The newspaper mentions NATO’s Baltic Watcher mission, which patrols the Baltic Sea to prevent further incidents of cable-cutting. Dragone believes that “since the start of the Baltic Watcher operation, nothing has happened. This means deterrence is working.”

He acknowledged, however, that one problem is that NATO countries “are far more restricted than our opponents due to ethics, law and jurisdiction.” “I don’t want to say this is a losing position, but it is certainly more complex than that of our opponent,” he added. The admiral concluded: “We need to analyze deeply how deterrence is achieved – through retaliation or through a pre-emptive strike?”