Pentagon NATO rhetoric: US asks allies to tone down Russia talk

Pentagon NATO rhetoric has become a quiet point of friction, as US officials ask several allies to temper public statements about the Russian threat.

Four people familiar with the matter said the officials argued that some remarks by European leaders have undermined security on the continent.

What the Pentagon NATO rhetoric requests say

Officials sent Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia messages that urged restraint in public, the people said. They gave the messages in one-on-one meetings, and nobody knows whether other governments received them.

Also, a Pentagon official declined to discuss the claims. “Private conversations among allies are just that,” the official said.

Those who spoke to the news agency included three Europeans and an American official. Not one of them described the advice as confrontational.

Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, was among the US officials who passed on the message. The Pentagon NATO rhetoric requests came through him. Colby also helps lead a review of how many US troops stay in Europe.

The “rat in a corner” remark

However, some comments drew special attention from US officials. European leaders had said that Russia had no way out and turned to more desperate measures as its invasion slowed.

One source said Colby told a Baltic official that there should be no “poking” aimed at the Russians. He pointed to Europeans who said publicly that Russia was “cornered like a rat.”

However, it was not clear which statement he meant. In late September, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal described Putin as a “rat in a corner.” He said the Russian leader had turned to sabotage in Europe as the war bogged him down.

At another session, the Pentagon asked an Estonian delegation to stay “measured” in public, a source said. That source did not name the statement that bothered officials.

Why Washington wants calmer Pentagon NATO rhetoric

The requests come while the Trump administration revives its drive for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine, now deep into its fifth year. That push combines incentives for Moscow, such as sanctions relief, with demands that Kyiv stop hitting Russian energy sites.

Behind the messages lies an argument within NATO over how openly to describe a more assertive Russia. However, the allies still disagree. Some Western officials argue that stressing the threat can help the Kremlin, since Moscow wants to sow fear and weaken support for Ukraine.

Others, meanwhile, say European governments must be open with voters. In their view, citizens need to know that sacrifice and resources are necessary to keep Moscow at bay. That is true especially as Russia appears to speed up a covert sabotage campaign across Europe. Russia denies running such a campaign.

European reaction

One European official described the advice as cordial but baffling. Baltic intelligence services have recently downplayed the chance that Russia would test NATO’s collective defence, the official noted, while other allied agencies have warned of more sabotage.

A separate European official told colleagues, “We are helping you. The Americans are there.” Baltic states border Russia and have long feared it, not least because drones regularly cross into their airspace.

One recent incident involved a drone carrying explosives that officials found at Leipzig Airport in Germany, near a Ukrainian cargo plane. For now, the Pentagon NATO rhetoric requests show how differently Washington and its European allies see the best way to handle Moscow.