Czech President Petr Pavel has called on NATO countries to move to a more decisive, in particular "asymmetric", response to russia's provocative actions, stating that the Alliance must demonstrate its readiness to react harshly to violations of its airspace and other actions that test the limits of its deterrence.
This is reported by the portal of the British publication The Guardian.
In an interview with the publication in Prague, Pavel stressed the need for "sufficiently decisive, potentially even asymmetric" measures in response to Moscow's actions, warning that the lack of a reaction could stimulate further escalation from russia.
Among the possible steps, he named, in particular, disconnecting the Internet, restricting access to satellite systems, cutting off russian banks from the global financial system, as well as shooting down aircraft that violate the airspace of the Alliance countries.
"For example, turning off the Internet or satellites - you saw the role Starlink played on the battlefield - or disconnecting russian banks from the financial system," the politician noted.
Pavel noted that russia, in his opinion, is acting below the threshold that activates Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and thus testing the limits of NATO's response. He emphasized that after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Moscow has developed a model of behavior that allows it to exert pressure without resorting to direct military conflict.
At the same time, the Czech President stated that russia understands primarily the "language of force", and not diplomatic warnings. According to him, in the event of continued violations of the Alliance's airspace, the question of shooting down both unmanned and manned aircraft may arise.
Separately, Pavel expressed disappointment with the lack of determination on the part of the United States in putting pressure on russia, refraining from direct criticism of President Donald Trump. At the same time, he previously stated that Trump "has done more to undermine NATO's credibility in the last few weeks than vladimir putin has in many years."
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