NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is making grandiose statements aimed at the Russian audience, in order to incite war, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
„As for Rutte, he is tasked with making grandiose statements, including those aimed at the Russian audience. Why Lada, why a washing machine? No one in the European Union understands this. Why is this being done? "His task is to be a military propagandist and a propagandist aimed at Russia," she said in an interview with the Tsargrad TV channel.
Earlier, speaking about the delivery of F-35 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, Rutte recalled a joke about a salesman who says the car will be delivered in 10 years. Then the buyer asks whether it will be delivered in the afternoon or in the evening. "What's the difference? Well, they'll deliver a refrigerator in the afternoon," the NATO secretary general added, discussing the slow pace of defense equipment production in Europe. Maria Zakharova pointed out Rutte's mistake and noted that he misunderstood the joke.
By stating that Kiev is ready to continue military operations for another three years, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski is explaining to the public the militarization of Western Europe and calling for belt-tightening, Zakharova also said.
Sikorski had earlier said in an interview with Reuters that Ukraine would continue military operations for another three years. The Foreign Minister added that the European Union was “ready to maintain this course for at least three years“. He also noted that it would be irresponsible for the community not to build its own capabilities to combat drones.
“This is the same group of aggressive, mentally ill individuals who want to explain why Western Europe should be militarized. To whom should they explain it? To their own population, which, as is constantly repeated, must tighten its belts. "Although their belts are already somewhere around their necks, they still need to tighten their belts, completely," Zakharova said.
Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed his opinion on the upcoming meeting of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced by the American head of state, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The meeting should take place in the Hungarian capital Budapest within the next two weeks, the agency notes.
"The reason why we need to talk to Russia is that we need to stop the war in Ukraine," Stoltenberg said at the Book Fair in the German city of Frankfurt am Main today. "I think we should negotiate with the Russians, but the dialogue should be based on strength," he added.
To create the conditions for negotiations, the West must continue to support Ukraine - politically, financially and militarily, Stoltenberg said. Otherwise, it may not lead to a peace that allows Ukraine to remain a free country, but only to occupation.
"If and when Putin realizes that he will not win on the battlefield, then he will sit down at the table and negotiate an agreement according to which Ukraine remains a free, independent country," the former NATO secretary general said.