NATO is furious; A possible preemptive strike on Russia

“In the cyber domain, we mostly react post factum. We are considering being more proactive rather than merely reactive,” Dragone said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Dragone stated that a “preventive strike” could, under certain circumstances, be considered a “defensive action,” but warned that such an approach is “far from the Alliance’s usual way of thinking and acting.”

He also noted that NATO faces numerous legal and jurisdictional issues that must be resolved.

Among other things, Dragone pointed out that NATO and its member states have “far more constraints” than Russia, due to laws and ethical obligations, which complicates their response, but he emphasized that the key goal is to prevent future aggression.

“How to achieve deterrence — through retaliation or a preventive strike — is something we must analyze in detail,” he concluded.

Europe has, in recent years, been affected by numerous hybrid warfare incidents, from the cutting of underwater cables in the Baltic Sea to cyberattacks across the continent.

Several member states, particularly those in Eastern Europe, have called on NATO to stop limiting itself to defensive reactions and to shift toward retaliatory measures, especially in the cyber domain where many countries possess offensive capabilities.