Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said there is no imminent threat to Nato territory, as he stressed the alliance is ready to counter any Russian threat.
Asked about growing concern in the region, including alarming reports of a potential immediate threat from Russia, Rutte played down the warnings. “Please stop being so worried; we are prepared for this,” he said, adding “there is no imminent threat to Nato territory.”
Alliance ready to defend itself
“And if anything happens, we are ready to counter it. We will always be defensive, but if necessary, of course we will defend ourselves,” he said.
“If the Russians want to do something against Finland or one of the Baltic nations or Poland or whichever country in Nato, we will see a build up … if there is a build up, we will see it and we will deal with it, if anything happens,” he added.
Ukraine support and Russian motives
Rutte said the situation is happening because “it’s not going well for him in Ukraine. He wants to divide us. He wants us to lose the attention when it comes to Ukraine. Keep the support going.”
He stressed that in the short term Ukraine “needs more interceptors,” and European countries that can help should consider giving them to Kyiv to “keep Ukraine strong.”
Nato unity and spending
Rutte also discussed Iran and its consequences for Ukraine, but mostly defended Trump’s activities on that front.
He said the atmosphere in Nato is “best it has ever been, because you now have Europe taking responsibility for its own defence,” and that Trump “loves” Nato, only hating “one element” on spending.
