We will make it so that if Russia tries to attack a NATO ally, it will be its biggest mistake, said today the Secretary General of the pact Mark Rutte at a press conference after the meeting of the defense ministers of the alliance in Brussels, BTA reports.
The Russians should know it's better not to try, he added. According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin must decide whether to participate in the peace talks in Ukraine, and until then NATO must continue its military support for Kiev. Rutte pointed out that today 75 percent of Russian tax revenues are used for military purposes.
We see that Ukraine is holding the front line, although it has not regained much territory recently, causing damage to Russian energy and military infrastructure, the secretary general added. He noted that later today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will participate in an allied meeting dedicated to his country.
Rutte reported that last year alone, NATO countries (excluding the United States) spent an additional $139 billion on defense. According to him, the United States recognizes this, but wants to continue to pressure allies to meet the goal of achieving military spending equal to 5 percent of their GDP by 2035.
The alliance is going through perhaps its greatest transformation yet, Rutte said. We always knew that there was a possibility that US forces would be needed elsewhere in the world, he added, referring to Washington's intentions to withdraw part of its military presence in Europe. This change strengthens NATO's defense plans and makes them more realistic, Rutte said. According to him, there is still no clarity on the upcoming changes and this will depend on the assessment that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced today that will be carried out in the coming months. We relied too much on the US, Rutte summed up.