““We are not at war, but we are not at peace either.” – Mark Rutte”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“I don’t know how or when the war will end, but I know that peace will not last if Putin achieves his goals in Ukraine… Peace will not last if Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un and the regime in Tehran welcome one one, feeling stronger,” the NATO Secretary General emphasized.
The head of the Alliance expressed deep concern about the security situation in Europe: “We are not in a state of war, but we are not in a state of peace either.” According to him, Russia is intensifying its destabilization campaign against Western countries: “What we used to call a hybrid war, I would call a destabilization campaign. And Russia is not alone – China, North Korea and Iran are next to it.”
Rutte emphasized that the current rate of defense spending of 2% of GDP, which two-thirds of NATO member countries have reached, is insufficient to ensure security in the future. He called on member states to significantly increase defense spending and accelerate the production of critical weaponry, including ships, tanks, aircraft, ammunition, satellites and drones.
“On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of national income on pensions, health care and social assistance. And we only need a small portion of these funds to make the defense much stronger,” he added.
Speaking about the defense industry, he noted: “The reality is that we are not where we need to be. Our industry is still too small, too fragmented and, frankly, too slow.”
The Secretary General also announced the first summit of NATO allied countries in the Baltic Sea region in Helsinki: “At the summit, the group of allied leaders will take further steps to prevent any further damage to underwater facilities and improve the stability of energy and communication infrastructure,” the NATO Secretary General concluded.
Earlier, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, believes that “the ceasefire will give his troops time to regroup in order to attack Ukraine again,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
After the election of Donald Trump as US president, Rutte pointed out that during Trump’s previous presidency, NATO countries had exceeded the figure of defense spending of 2% of GDP. At the same time, he expressed his belief that the alliance “must do more”.