NATO should sever Russia’s internet, financial access – Czech president

NATO should take more active steps in response to what he called Russian provocations, including measures such as cutting off internet access, Czech President Petr Pavel said in an interview with The Guardian.

According to him, the alliance should adopt “asymmetric” measures to signal to Russia that it has chosen “the wrong path.”

“For example, switching off the internet or satellites – you saw what [difference] Starlink made on the battlefield – or cutting Russian banks from the financial system,” Pavel said, listing possible options.

The Czech leader argued that over the past decade Russia has studied NATO’s methods and developed a pattern of behavior that almost reaches the threshold of Article 5, but always stays just below it, referring to the NATO clause on collective defense in case of an armed attack on a member state.

Pavel also claimed that senior Russian military officials have at times laughed at the alliance’s decision-making paralysis, and criticized European leaders for favoring diplomatic approaches over more effective measures.

By Jeyhun Aghazada