NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned on Thursday that alliance members could become “Russia’s next target” and called for rapid increases in defense spending to prevent wars similar to those experienced by the past generation.
Rutte’s comments, delivered in a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Berlin, came as European leaders discussed a peace plan aimed at ending Russia’s years-long war in Ukraine, against a backdrop of increased pressure from the United States.
“We need to be prepared, because conflicts… are no longer fought at arm’s length. They are at our door,” he said.
“Russia has brought war back to Europe. We must prepare for a war on the scale that our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.”
But he added that if NATO “kept up to its promise, this is a tragedy that we can prevent.”
“Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years,” Rutte warned.
“Too many people are quietly complacent…too many people believe that time is on their side, when in fact it is not,” he warned. “Now is the time for action. Allied defense spending and production must increase rapidly.”
In June, NATO members agreed to raise their defense spending target to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, more than double the current 2% target and consistent with the type of increase that US President Donald Trump has long called for.
While Rutte acknowledged that “to some extent Europe needs to be more concerned about its own defense,” he sought to emphasize the United States’ commitment to NATO. He made the comments after the Trump administration released a national security strategy on Friday that took an unprecedented confrontational stance toward Europe.
“It’s critical that we maintain the transatlantic bond as it is today,” he said. “We can’t protect the United States without a secure Atlantic. We need NATO to keep the Atlantic safe.”
Rutte told CNN’s Fred Preitgen that the US president is “the only one who can break the deadlock with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” praising Trump for kickstarting talks on Russia and Ukraine.
While President Trump has expressed impatience in recent weeks with reaching a deal, European countries have taken a more cautious stance, seeking both security guarantees and further talks on territorial concessions.
“There must be (Ukraine’s) security in place of such a quality and level that if President Putin tries again, there will be a catastrophic response,” Rutte said.
“Everyone knows that there will be delicate and difficult discussions about territory, but in the end only Ukrainians can decide,” he added.
Meanwhile, Russia has called on Britain to “admit” what British soldiers killed in Ukraine were doing in the country, implying without evidence that British troops were doing more than their declared mission in the country.
The British Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that the soldier died “in a tragic accident while observing Ukrainian forces testing new defense capabilities away from the front line.”
