In an interview with Kyiv Post, General Philip Breedlove says West must drop ‘deterred’ posture as Lithuania battles border incursions, insisting Moscow ‘will never be interested in peace’

WASHINGTON, DC – The escalating “hybrid attacks” on NATO member Lithuania highlight a larger strategic failure in which the West remains “completely deterred” by Russia, according to retired four-star US General Philip Breedlove.

Breedlove, the former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), delivered the stark assessment in an interview with the Kyiv Post on Monday.

Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.

He argued that the West’s current diplomatic and military approach is fundamentally flawed because Moscow has no genuine interest in peace, a conviction that forms the basis of his critique.

Gen. Breedlove’s most unequivocal statement was directed at the diplomatic debate surrounding Russia’s war on Ukraine. He believes Western leaders are finally beginning to grasp a grim reality Ukraine and its allies have long championed: Russia has never been interested in peace.

“It has never been, and is not now interested in peace, and will never, in the future, be interested in peace. The sooner Western leadership understands this and accepts the truth, then we can get on with taking care of Russia,” Gen. Breedlove emphasized.

Gen. Breedlove’s comments arrive as Lithuania fights to secure its airspace from dozens of helium-filled balloons – believed to be smuggling contraband – that have repeatedly drifted over the border from Belarus, causing massive disruption to civil aviation.

The problem, which has forced Vilnius Airport to close multiple times over the weekend, and grounded over 16,500 passengers, has prompted the Lithuanian government on Monday to denounced a “hybrid attack” and take aggressive measures.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė declared that the country’s army is taking “all necessary measures” to shoot down the balloons and has indefinitely closed border crossings with Belarus.