NATO’s armed forces are currently ill-prepared for a prolonged conflict because they lack sufficient resilience, according to Mike Utley, commander of the alliance’s Combined Maritime Command, speaking to Bloomberg.

Utley acknowledged that the level of endurance NATO would ideally want to have is not yet in place. Developments over the past ten months, he said, have made this shortfall increasingly evident. At the same time, he stressed that alliance members recognize the problem and are prepared to invest in capabilities aimed at strengthening long-term resilience.

Bloomberg notes that such assessments have reinforced concerns about Europe’s readiness for an extended confrontation with Russia. Moscow, for its part, has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of attacking NATO countries.

Utley also pointed to a worsening strategic environment. The growing interdependence of the modern world, he explained, is forcing Western militaries to prepare for far more complex forms of warfare. Alongside traditional military challenges, this includes an expanding spectrum of cyber threats, which he described as a fundamentally different and increasingly persistent battlespace.

Despite these challenges, Utley expressed confidence that NATO members are assuming the necessary commitments and that the alliance as a whole is moving in the right direction.

At the same time, a far more alarming scenario has been outlined by commentators from the Chinese outlet Sohu. According to their analysis, Europe would face an inevitable catastrophe if NATO were to attempt an attack on the Kaliningrad Region. The publication claims that Russia’s response to external aggression against Kaliningrad would involve the use of nuclear weapons. Under such a scenario, the authors estimate that the death toll could reach 34 million people within the first five hours of the conflict.