In an interview with Polish broadcaster TVP World, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich said the alliance deliberately avoids spelling out the exact conditions that could trigger Article 5.

According to Grynkewich, NATO may rely on other mechanisms in a crisis before reaching that point. He specifically referred to Article 4, which allows the North Atlantic Council to convene for consultations if a member state believes its security is under threat.

Grynkewich also noted that Article 4 was not invoked even once during the Cold War. Instead, allies discussed emerging problems and worked through them without formally activating the mechanism. In his view, NATO should preserve that approach for as long as possible.

Bloomberg previously reported that NATO’s military command had prepared a new defense plan for the alliance’s eastern flank involving drones and artificial intelligence technologies. The document was reportedly titled «Theory of Victory».

According to sources cited by the agency, the plan is intended to define how NATO would respond to a possible incursion into alliance territory. Grynkewich declined to disclose the contents of the document, saying only that NATO is an exclusively defensive alliance.