Mark Rutte foresees a tragedy, but also says it can still be avoided
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned this Thursday that the alliance’s members could be “Russia’s next target”, calling for a rapid increase in defense spending to avoid a war similar to those of past generations.
Rutte’s comments, in a speech given at the Munich Security Conference in Berlin, came as European leaders discussed a peace proposal aimed at ending Russia’s years-long war in Ukraine, in a context of growing pressure from the US.
“We have to be prepared because conflicts are no longer fought at arm’s length, the conflict is on our doorstep”, he stated.
“Russia brought war back to Europe and we must be prepared for the scale of war that our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.”
However, he added, if NATO “fulfills its commitments, this is a tragedy that we can avoid”.
Rutte warned that “Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years”.
“Too many are complacent… too many believe that time is on our side. It is not,” he warned. “The time to act is now. Allied defense expenditures and production must increase rapidly.”
In June, NATO members agreed to increase their defense spending targets to 5% of their gross domestic product by 2035, more than double the current 2% target and in line with the type of increase that US President Donald Trump has demanded for years.
Rutte acknowledged that “to a certain extent, in Europe, we will have to take more care of our own defense”, but he also sought to highlight the US commitment to NATO. His comments came after the Trump administration released its National Security Strategy, which adopted an unprecedentedly confrontational stance toward Europe.
“It is crucial that we maintain transatlantic ties as they are today”, he said, highlighting that “the USA cannot be defended without a secure Atlantic and NATO is needed to keep the Atlantic secure”.
Rutte praised Trump for initiating talks on Russia and Ukraine, telling CNN’s Fred Pleitgen that the US president was “the only one who could break the impasse with [o presidente russo Vladimir] Putin”.
In recent weeks, Trump has shown himself impatient to reach a deal, while the Europeans have been more cautious, looking for security guarantees and more discussions on any territorial concessions.
“There must be security guarantees (for Ukraine) of such a quality and level that Putin knows that if he tries again, the reaction will be devastating,” Rutte said.
“We all know that there will be a delicate and difficult discussion about the territory, which in the end only the Ukrainians can decide,” he added.
Meanwhile, Russia called on the United Kingdom to “admit” what a British soldier who died in Ukraine was doing in the country, insinuating, without evidence, that British forces were carrying out more than their publicly disclosed duties in the country.
The UK Ministry of Defense confirmed this Wednesday that the soldier died “following a tragic accident whilst observing Ukrainian forces testing a new defensive capability, away from the front lines”.
CNN’s Anna Cooban, Anna Chernova and Fred Pleitgen contributed to this report
