Brussels / December 1, 2025 – Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, has issued a dramatic warning that the alliance may soon be forced to abandon its long-standing reactive posture and adopt preemptive measures against Russia. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Financial Times, the senior Italian officer revealed that NATO is actively studying a shift toward proactive operations, including potential offensive cyber strikes and, in extreme cases, preemptive military action, in response to Moscow’s intensifying campaign of sabotage, drone incursions, and infrastructure attacks across Europe.
“We are studying everything,” Dragone said. “On cyber, we are kind of reactive. Being more aggressive or being proactive instead of reactive is something that we are thinking about.” He described cyber retaliation as the “simplest and quickest” option available to the alliance, given the advanced offensive cyber capabilities possessed by many member states. Responding to physical sabotage or drone incursions, however, would be far more complex, though still feasible.
The admiral acknowledged that a true “preemptive strike” could, under certain conditions, be framed as defensive in nature, but stressed that such a move would represent a profound departure from NATO’s traditional doctrine and raise serious questions of international law, jurisdiction, and political responsibility.
For years, intelligence agencies in Europe have attributed a growing wave of suspicious incidents to Russian military intelligence (GRU) and associated proxy networks. These include:
- Multiple severings of undersea internet and power cables in the Baltic Sea since late 2023
- A major fire that destroyed a Ukrainian-owned warehouse in east London
- Large, unidentified drones repeatedly penetrating the airspace of Denmark, Norway, Germany, Poland, and the Baltic states
- A several-hour shutdown of Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport in September 2025 after sophisticated drones were detected overhead
- Suspicious explosions and fires at defense-related factories in the UK, Poland, and Germany
Many of these operations are believed to be carried out or facilitated by vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — hundreds of ageing, often uninsured tankers used to evade Western sanctions on Russian oil.
Eastern European and Baltic member states have been the most vocal in demanding a tougher NATO response. A senior Baltic diplomat told the Financial Times: “If all we do is continue being reactive, we just invite Russia to keep trying, keep hurting us. Hybrid warfare is asymmetric. It costs them little and us a lot. We need to be more inventive.”
Moscow reacted with fury to the admiral’s remarks. Russia’s ambassador to Belgium, Denis Gonchar, accused NATO of “intimidating its own population with the Kremlin’s non-existent plans to attack” and claimed the alliance was deliberately preparing public opinion for a major war with Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that any discussion of preemptive action dramatically raises the risk of direct confrontation.
While NATO debates its strategic posture, separate high-level diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine continued over the weekend in Florida. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking after two days of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Hallandale Beach, described himself as “cautiously optimistic.” He emphasized that the goal is not merely a ceasefire but a lasting settlement that secures Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and sovereignty.
The U.S. team, which included President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior advisor Jared Kushner, met with Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and armed forces commander Andrii Hnatov. Notably absent from the Ukrainian side was Andriy Yermak, President Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff and lead negotiator throughout the war, who resigned on November 28 amid a major corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks at Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom.
The Florida meetings built on a revised U.S. peace proposal that emerged from talks in Geneva last week. The original American-Russian draft, circulated in October, had been heavily criticized by European leaders as overly favorable to Moscow, including provisions that would have effectively frozen Russian territorial gains and blocked Ukraine’s path to NATO membership. The updated framework is understood to include greater security guarantees for Kyiv, though significant gaps remain.
Steve Witkoff is scheduled to travel to Moscow as early as Tuesday to present the latest version directly to Russian officials, including potentially to President Putin himself. Putin has publicly described the American initiative as a possible “basis” for ending the war but continues to insist that Russia will not withdraw from occupied territories or accept unrestricted Ukrainian NATO membership.
Back in Europe, the sense of unease is palpable. British, Danish, and German naval forces have stepped up patrols in the North Sea and Baltic after multiple Russian vessels were observed loitering near critical infrastructure. Norway reported three separate Russian military aircraft violating its airspace in 2025 alone, while Polish authorities continue to intercept unidentified drones near the border with Kaliningrad and Belarus.
As winter approaches and Russia’s conventional assault on the Ukrainian front lines remain deadlocked, Moscow appears to be doubling down on its shadow campaign against the West. NATO officials privately acknowledge that the alliance’s current toolkit — diplomatic protests, sanctions, and defensive military posturing — has failed to deter the Kremlin’s hybrid aggression.
Admiral Cavo Dragone’s public acknowledgment that preemptive options are now “on the table” marks the clearest signal yet that the alliance may be reaching the limits of strategic patience. Whether NATO ultimately crosses the threshold into proactive operations remains uncertain, but the debate itself represents one of the most significant shifts in alliance thinking since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
For now, Europe watches the shadows — and waits for the incident that could force the alliance to act first.
