NEW YORK, December 19. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance does not possess the resilience to wage a protracted war, according to Mike Utley, who leads the bloc’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM).

"Have we got the resilience that we would wish to have? I think the commentary over the last 10 months has shown that, no, we haven’t," Utley told Bloomberg in an interview. According to him, NATO member countries have "very much recognized that" and are prepared "to invest in those capability sets to grow our resilience."

European officials have been sounding the alarm about the need to prepare for a potential confrontation with Russia, Bloomberg reported. Richard Knighton, chief of the British Defense Staff, for one, described the increasing strength of the Russian military as something that should raise concern.

According to Utley, NATO governments should not spend "every penny" on defense, as there are many other competing priorities facing them, Bloomberg said.

At a summit held in The Hague in June, NATO leaders agreed, at the suggestion of the United States, to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. By 2035, NATO allies are to allocate at least 3.5% of GDP in line with the bloc’s agreed defense spending guidelines, and up to 1.5% of GDP to protect critical infrastructure and networks, ensure civil preparedness and resilience, stimulate innovation, and strengthen the defense industrial base.