Gen. Christopher Cavoli, Commander of United States European Command (USEUCOM) and Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that U.S. leadership is crucial to maintaining European stability and countering emerging threats from Russia.
In his April 2025 testimony, Gen. Cavoli warned that Russia, now in its fourth year of war in Ukraine, remains a chronic threat to European stability. “We see in the future it will be a growing threat — one that is willing to use military force to achieve its geopolitical goals and is today actively waging a campaign of destabilization across Europe and beyond,” he said.
Gen. Cavoli noted deepening cooperation among adversarial nations — Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea — which collectively pose an expanding global security risk. He characterized much of China’s support to Russia as “moral support,” calling it “pernicious,” and “highly problematic” as it attempts to lend legitimacy to Russia’s violation of another country’s sovereignty. The deepening relationship between Beijing and Moscow has drawn increased scrutiny in Washington, as both nations continue to coordinate on military and economic fronts.
Gen. Cavoli said the U.S. has historically provided a portion of its nuclear arsenal to NATO, to be employed by the SACEUR in the event of a conflict, with Allied nations participating in delivery operations. This strategy has ensured stability for more than 75 years and continues to be a cornerstone of NATO’s defense framework.
“USEUCOM and the NATO Alliance have risen to the challenge. NATO deterrence has held. War has not spilled into NATO territory,” he said. He said the Russia-Ukraine war has driven NATO to undertake a historic transformation, with members investing heavily in military modernization and capability improvements. “Our Allies are investing at a rate we haven’t seen since the end of the cold war — a 40% increase in spending,” the general said. He credited the presence and leadership of USEUCOM forces for playing a crucial role in these modernization efforts, asserting that a stronger NATO will ultimately enhance the United States’ own military position.
Gen. Cavoli noted that the shortest distance from Russian airfields to the U.S. is over the polar cap, and that Russia has been expanding its Arctic infrastructure. He also described the movements of Russia’s Northern Fleet, which frequently transits through the GIUK Gap — a crucial maritime route between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom — in an effort to access the Atlantic, where it could threaten key U.S. interests with submarine-launched cruise missiles. He emphasized the indispensable role of U.S. forces in securing the GIUK Gap, noting that while NATO Allies contribute numbers, U.S. capabilities provide the technological superiority necessary for effective monitoring and defense. “Almost all of the nations in the Arctic Council are NATO nations. […] We’ve recently been sponsoring tabletop exercises to make sure we understand the details of command and control and coordination of operations there,” he said.
Given the geographic scale of the European theater, U.S. forces need to be positioned for rapid deployment. Gen Cavoli said. “One of the differences between the Cold War and now is we were very sure where the battlefield would be during the Cold War,” he said. “Now we have 2,300 kilometers of expanse. U.S. forces bring capabilities that nobody else has and can move the fastest so [we] need them in locations where they can be trained, ready, and where they have the infrastructure and the [international] agreements to be able to deploy quickly.”