Washington: NATO will not tolerate Russian hybrid warfare

Matthew Whitaker, the US Ambassador to NATO, stated on Saturday on the sidelines of a business conference in Italy that NATO member states must not tolerate deliberate acts of hybrid warfare. These remarks follow the drone attack last month on Germany's Leipzig-Halle Airport, for which Berlin holds Russia responsible. Whitaker emphasized that Washington supports nations in dealing with such acts, though the primary responsibility for response lies with the individual states. He added that if the perpetrator is identified, NATO must send a strong message that such behavior is unacceptable. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, referring to the incident, described it as evidence of a deep rift in national security and warned Moscow against continuing this type of hybrid warfare. In response, the German government has ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural center in Berlin. Russia has labeled these actions as anti-Russian and announced it would summon the German chargé d'affaires.