In 2025, Donahue declared that NATO has a plan called the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line in the event of a military confrontation with Russia.
According to the project, the alliance troops would be able to quickly neutralize the Russian troops stationed in the Kaliningrad region, but the plan serves primarily as a deterrent.
However, Gruško interprets the joint military initiative of the Joint Expeditionary Force of Great Britain, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian and Baltic states as preparation for a real naval blockade of the Russian exclave and, according to him, could also result in a wider conflict between NATO and Russia.
The JEF grouping of countries was founded in 2015 and is tasked with quickly responding to crisis situations, deterring threats and conducting operations primarily in the Baltic and Arctic regions.
However, such statements fit into the narrative in which Russian officials portray the North Atlantic Alliance as an immediate aggressor to justify their own military goals, such as the invasion of Ukraine, as the United24 website pointed out.
